Searches for SAS, Nursing deans still underway

By the end of the summer -- in a period of just over a year -- a clean sweep of the deans from all four undergraduate schools will have taken place, if all goes according to schedule. Last summer, Dean Gregory Farrington took the helm of the Engineering School while Dean Thomas Gerrity stepped in to fill the shoes of ex-Wharton Dean Russell Palmer. This summer, School of Arts and Sciences Dean Hugo Sonnenschein will leave to assume his new post as Princeton's provost, while Nursing Dean Claire Fagin will step down from her position to become president of the National League of Nursing and a member of the faculty. However, permanent replacements have yet to be named for either of these posts. Lawrence Bernstein, head of the SAS dean search committee, previously indicated his committee would step up its search after the end of finals, and there are now some indications the group will be meeting with President Sheldon Hackney to discuss its progress. "We keep hearing rumors, but that's all we've heard," said Linda Koons, executive assistant to the provost. Koons said the provost also met with the Nursing dean search committee several weeks ago, but said nothing new has been heard since. But word on the Nursing committee's progress is still at least two to three weeks away. Meanwhile, SAS Associate Dean Walter Wales will take the helm of SAS as Acting Dean on Saturday. Wales said yesterday that he has not received any timetable for the new dean's selection, but is interested in finding out how long his term as acting dean will last in order to plan for the fall. "I was given little indication at all," Wales said yesterday. The continuing debate over whether the school should choose its new dean from the University community or from the outside may be a factor in the search's progress. To some extent, Farrington and Gerrity demonstrate the differences between internal and external selection. Prior to their selection, Farrington had eleven years experience at the University, while Gerrity was appointed from his private sector post at Index Group, an information consulting firm. Both deans' short tenures have been relatively uneventful, although Farrington's previous University experience may have made his transition somewhat easier. "I think the first year is always difficult because there are so many things you have to learn so quickly," Koons said. "I think in that way it might have been easier for Farrington than Gerrity, but then it might be easier not knowing because you don't have any presumptions."

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