The search for the next dean of the College of Education and Human Services (CEHS) is beginning to wind down, as Dr. Ken Perkins, vice president for Academic Affairs, said a candidate will be selected among the four finalists within the next two weeks.
“I am looking for an individual who is highly reflective of their own style and decision-making and being committed to constantly improving their ability to motivate people,” said Perkins, who will make the final decision.
Dr. Wayne White has served as interim dean since Dr. Deneese Jones, the former dean, left her position in 2012 to become provost at Drake University.
The four finalists are Dr. Robert Spina, professor and chair of the Department of Human Movement at Old Dominion University; Dr. Debra Wellman, associate professor and dean of the College of Professional Studies at Rollins College; Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks, associate professor and associate dean of the School of Education at Hamline University; and Dr. Paul Chapman, interim associate dean of the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University.
The four finalists’ CVs can be found on the university’s Academic Affairs web page.
According to Teresa Irish, administrative assistant to the dean search committee chaired by Dean of the Library Suzy Palmer, the candidate pool originally consisted of 25-30 candidates that an outside search firm brought to the committee.
From there, the committee cut the number to six candidates to interview via Skype. The committee selected the final four candidates from these interviewees to bring to campus from Feb. 11-21, interviewing each candidate for two and a half days.
Part of the interview process required each candidate to deliver a presentation on the same topic, entitled “The Greatest Challenges Facing Education and Human Services in the Next Decade.”
“We’re looking at how effective the presentation is, how insightful the presentations are,” Perkins said.
According to Irish, candidates also had lunches with students from the CEHS as part of their itinerary.
Irish said there were no privacy or job security concerns with bringing the candidates to the university in such a public manner.
“Typically, when you get to the on-campus interview stage, it’s common practice to go public so that the people at the schools you’re interviewing at can see your CV,” Irish explained.
The search committee also runs criminal background and reference checks on the candidates, said Irish.
Perkins added, “We take great pains ... to make sure that they are not running from something.”
The CEHS dean job description posted on the Academic Affairs page outlines a number of desired qualities and requirements. The section that describes the degree requirements reads, “Candidates must have an earned doctorate in one of the disciplines within the College and academic and scholarly record consistent with appointment at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor.”
Perkins said the modern approach of hiring an administrator goes beyond simply publishing an advertisement in The Chronicle of Higher Education, which the committee did. The outside search firm also contacted officials at universities and asked about qualified officials at these schools, and contacted those believed to be interested.
“These days with moving expenses and selling houses and the difficulty of selling houses, you have to work hard to get a good, big applicant pool, and that’s what we’ve done,” Perkins said.
While Perkins said the search committee will meet this week to deliberate on a subset of two to four of the four candidates to recommend to him, he is the primary decision maker. The future CEHS dean will report directly to him.
“It is a very big part of this job when you’re making those kind decisions and you get all the input,” said Perkins. “Part of the reason for hiring the firm to help us build the applicant pool is to get a subset of candidates that any one of which would be successful, and I think that is the case here.”
Perkins believes it is “important to have a diversity of people in the applicant pool. Gender, race and experience; certainly within the realms of being qualified.”
The future dean of the CEHS will officially assume his or her role on July 1.
