SAS dean search committee forming

Nearly two weeks after School of Arts and Sciences Dean Hugo Sonnenschein announced he will leave for Princeton University, the school is still forming a search committee to find his successor. The committee, appointed by faculty, students and the administration, will search this spring for the sixth permanent dean in the 16 year history of the University's largest school. The committee will narrow the field of candidates to a "short list" of finalists. President Sheldon Hackney and Provost Michael Aiken will choose the new dean from this list. Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons said Friday the formation of the selection committee will take at least two more weeks. Aiken has met with the school's constituent groups -- graduates, undergraduates and faculty -- and has asked each to choose representatives for the ten-person committee. The SAS's Committee on Committees is charged with selecting four faculty to be placed on a ballot that is sent to SAS professors. If the SAS faculty ratifies these choices, they will join the search committee. Committee on Committees Chairperson Janice Madden said last week her group has already selected and submitted the four candidates to the Provost's office. She added that she is anxious to see the process moving and that it is important to form the search committee as soon as possible. Two student groups, the Undergraduate Assembly and the Graduate Students Associations Council, will each select a student representative to the search committee. GSAC President Michael Polgar said yesterday although the council has tentatively selected a representative, he has received one more application for consideration. "We would like someone who is responsible to the needs of the graduates students [for SAS dean]," Polgar said. Despite having only one member on the committee, Polgar does not view it as a token position. "We are part of the committee, which is better than nothing," Polgar said last night, adding that GSAC will choose its representative Wednesday. UA member Susan Moss, who is handling the selection of the UA's representative, could not be reached for comment last night. Upon choosing the graduate, undergraduate and faculty nominations, the president and the provost will select four additional members for the committee. Although the committee will probably be empowered to look both inside and outside the University, Hackney said last month the University would begin by looking within SAS for a new dean. Several faculty said last week a dean from within the present structure would be preferable to an outsider. It takes at least a year for an outsider to become familiarized with the structure of any large administration, they said. In general, crucial programs in planning are put on hold while the new administration adjusts. But according to faculty, now is a particularly critical time, because the University is in the middle of a billion dollar capital campaign drive which will propel the University into the next century. Past SAS dean searches have taken up to a year and have included as many as 150 candidates.

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