THE ISSUE: The College of Humanities and Social Sciences has started its search for a new dean.
OUR OPINION: Whoever takes the job has a lot to deal with, like budget cuts and planning for future expansion.
THE SOLUTION: The new dean needs to stick around to deal with all these issues without compromising due to present budget issues.
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences has been without a dean since April 2008, when Toby Parcel stepped down. Now, the search is on for someone to fill the office.
CHASS is the third-largest college on campus after engineering and agricultural and life sciences, and all students, regardless of major, need to take classes in humanities to graduate.
This office is as important to the University’s operation as that of any engineering or general administrator, and he or she should be chosen carefully. However, the person who is given the job needs to keep a specific list of priorities and remain open to students for suggestions.
The first order of business for the new dean is the budget. With the state-mandated seven percent budget reduction, the University is cutting costs everywhere. However, the CHASS dean must fight reductions in available classes and sections in the the college.
Upperclassmen also need to be given priority if classes must be cut. There is no reason why students should have to stay an extra semester simply because they could not take the one course they needed to graduate. Such measures will improve the four year graduation rate, a statistic for which the University has drawn some criticism.
If the budget cuts make it absolutely necessary to cut classes or programs, the new CHASS dean must look to cut programs that benefit the fewest people. Yet the new dean must also take care with any cuts. Unlike other departments that need to purchase equipment for classes, CHASS uses a good portion of its budget to pay faculty.
Still, the economic downturn will not last forever, and the new dean must also address future concerns regarding graduate and undergraduate courses. Neither graduate nor undergraduate students should be given priority — instead, CHASS needs to expand these programs with equal vigor, and the new dean should stay committed to expanding educational opportunities for students of all ages and degrees.
These challenges are not for the faint of heart, and the new CHASS dean should be selected with the expectation that he will stay around and work on making these goals into reality. Given the turnover rate, having a dean who stays around for more than a few years would help make changes consistent.
