UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, December 9,1992
7
DESPERATELY SEEKING DEANS:
Continued from Page 1.
“One of the things we want is a dean who has a rapport with students,” said Kurt Brouckelmann, St. Louis senior. “These are qualities the students are looking for in the dean, and these are qualities that Esther has.”
Broeckelmann is one voice among 4,700 students in the four schools searching for new deans. Through search committee student representatives, all voices can have a say in the decision.
But before students can influence who their new deans are, they first must define what a dean is. And that, the deans themselves admit, is no easy task.
THE DO-IT-ALL DEAN
Many architecture students want a dean with a strong academic background who can offer constructive criticism on projects, said architecture student Jose Fernandez, Bahal Blanca, Argentina, senior.
"We need somebody who comes down to the jury room and says, This sucks' or You're doing a great job," Fer-
A dean who steps out of the office and into the classroom would motivate faculty and students alike, said architecture student Laron Casey, Lawrence senior.
"We want the dean to be an educator and to inspire us," he said. The chair can't push the faculty the way the dean can."
For other students, the dean doesn't have to be a "Superteacher" — merely an accessible administrator.
Even having an open-door policy — an avenue to an often isolated individual — would appease students, said Donald Francis, Lawrence law student and president of the law school division of the American Bar Association. "There's not a lot of interaction
"There's not a lot of interaction there on the academic end," Francis said. "But our dean has been fairly receptive."
Keith Jones, Tulsa, Okla., law student and representative on the law dean search committee, said law students wanted a dean who could function well in all areas of his position — from leader of the faculty to mentor of the students.
"You have to look for someone who can avoid being in some sort of allegiance that he or she can't move around easily," Jones said. "Students want someone who is decisive, someone who has practiced law as well as had administrative experience."
students said that in smaller schools, such as law, with 353 students, and pharmacy, with 420 students, the dean may have more opportunity to interact with them. But low enrollments do not guarantee more interaction.
Elise Asn, Derby senior, represents about 270 undergraduate students on the pharmacy dean search committee. She said she thought most of the students, including those who have never known a permanent dean, expected some level of contact with their new dean.
Education students also said that even in their school of 970 undergraduate and 1,960 graduate students, they looked for a dean who could get out of the office and meet with students.
"The students should know who they are and should feel comfortable to talk with them." Ash said. "It is unrealistic to think the dears are there every day, every minute of the day. But some visibility. I think that's necessary."
Richard Zikes, Overland Park graduate student and president of the Higher Education Student Association, said that for the seven years he had taken classes at the education school, he had become familiar with most of his deans, including associate and assistant deans.
Mary Myers, graduate student representative for the education dean search committee, said students wanted someone who could understand all aspects of the school. "What we're really looking for is a small-college president," Myrs said. "We are asking a lot of the dean, someone who can maintain common ground."
REALITY CHECK
"Our deans are social," Zikes said. "We talk to them. We see them. I feel my administration at the school of education has been very accessible."
the role of the dean is not working with students but dealing with issues outside of the school that effect the school." the Kansas City. Mo. senior said.
When expressing their desire for more involvement with their deans, students are reinforcing misconceptions about the dean's evolving role in the 1990s, administrators said.
Like deans at other financially strapped universities, those at KU must devote more time to raising revenues on the outside rather than seeing students on the inside. Dispelling that misconception has been part of Calones' role as the undergraduate representative on the architecture dean search committee.
Jones said he could not blame students for wanting an interactive, accessible dean. However, they should realize that time a dean spends visiting with students is time not spent rounding up dollars for the school, he said.
- "One of the problems with students is they don't realize
no spent training up for the schools, he said.
Ed Mewen, executive vice chancellor and dean of edu-
Ed Meyen, executive vice chancellion from 1986 to 1992, said he did not expect most students to know about the dean's emerging role in generating money for their schools.
Meyen said the traditional image of a dean as an academic leader largely had been supplanted by that of an administrator who could run a school while keeping the coffers full.
"If a dean cannot play a significant role in the fund raising of the school, he won't be an effective dean," Meyen said. "Fifteen years ago, that wasn't the situation."
Meyen said working with outside concerns, such as fund raising, could take a fraction of the deans' time but half their energies.
As dean of pharmacy from 1966 to 1992, Howard Mossberg, now vice chancellor for graduate and research
"We've consciously kept the job description very general so as not to exclude those candidates who might be very strong administrators or have very strong skills in academics."
studies, saw the dean's evolution first-hand.
"In general, deanships 25 years ago were not as consuming as they are today." Mossberg said.
"In this case, for the architecture school, we need somebody who can get down to the studios and see what's going on and interact with the students."
From balancing school budgets to wooing wealthy alumni, the deans' array of financial responsibilities demands a lot of time outside of the school, Mossberg said
During the first 10 years of his deanship, Mossberg car-
Kent Spreckolmeyer chair of architecture dean search committee
Cal Jones, who represents about 670 undergraduates in architecture's three departments, said he felt overwhelmed and uncertain when the architecture dean search began.
Max Lucas said he, too, experienced a decline in the level of contact with students during his 12 years as dean of architecture. Duties, such as writing accountability reports and attracting corporate sponsorship, kept Lucas out of the hallways or, in some cases, out of the school altogether.
He a full-time teaching load. But as his administrative duties mounted, he, like other deans, found himself spending less time in the classroom and more time on the road or behind the desk. Mossberg said.
just like the faculty and alumni," Jerry said. "But in the final analysis, the selection of the dean is by the chancellor, who uses the advice of the vice chancellor for academic affairs."
group financing
"It's not the role I enjoy, and it's one of the reasons I'm stepping down," he said
Some students may not like the shifting role of a dean away from direct student involvement.
But, in actuality, they may benefit from the change. Fruits of a dean's labor include scholarships, computers, visiting professors and student
Law students consistently look to their dean to help them find outside funds because of the school's small size and proportionally small allocations from Student Senate, said Allison Cumberbatch, Lawrence law student and president of the Student Bar Association.
"We want a dean who makes student organizations a
priority," she said. "Dean Jerry has tried to be as helpful as he can, but it hasn't been enough."
"It basically has meant that students need to deal with department chairs rather than the dean to solve problems," said Eric Strauss, head of the department of urban planning since 1986.
The dean's changing role also has shortened the chain of command for students.
As chair, Strauss handles admissions teaching assignments, course schedules and some budgeting.
The chairs ease a dean's workload by providing specialization in their departments, Strauss said.
"Students want a dean who understands the education process they're going through," Strauss said "But more
Jose Fernandez
Lenexa senior
Generally speaking, students comprise 20 percent of the committee and faculty another 50 percent. The remainder of the committee is a collection of a higher administration representatives, a dean from another KU school, staff, alumni and professional constituents.
"I didn't know how to handle it at first, and I thought we needed more student representation on the committee," he said. "But as time goes on, I realize students have basically similar concerns."
Jones said he believed his views had equal weight in committee meetings.
But architecture student Aaron Casey expressed fear that staff and faculty voices would have more resonance, given the composition of the committee.
"What I'm hoping to find is a student who will reach out to the remaining students, who will serve as a conduit to the remaining student body," he said.
"Students are an extremely important constituency.
"It's not representational," he said. "It's senatorial."
"Once you close that door, there's no hierarchy," he said.
MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE
Robert Jerry, dean of law, said this diverse mixture had been proven to work well in the past when selecting deans.
Selecting candidates who are sensitive to staff, faculty and student needs is the duty of the four search committees.
Voicing just what those student needs are is the job of the student representatives.
Though student representation has found its place in choosing deans, students may do well to
When the four finalists in the education dean search met individually with students, Caroline Elton, Overland Park senior and undergraduate dean search representative, said she copied down student questions and concerns.
importantly, students need to understand that one person can't understand everything. The dean can be sensitive to their needs but not know everything."
David Shulenberger, vice chancellor of academic affairs, selects search committee members — including students — from lists of nominees, compiled by the school faculty. In choosing suitable student representatives, Shulenberger said he looked for people who had proven an ability to communicate well with their peers.
"As far as the system goes, students could give their input," Elton said. "They had equal say. Each had a time to speak with the candidates alone and discuss any topic that was on their mind."
remember that their stay at the University will end with graduation, said Donald Francis.
"It would be nicer if we had more representation, but I understand the position of the faculty." Francis said. "They have to work with this person for 10 years or more. I'm going to be gone in six months. The faculty will be here for a while."
Val Stella, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry, is head of the pharmacy search committee, which continued searching for a new dean after two finalists declined offers last spring. While visiting with candidates, students sometimes gained insight that faculty committee members could not, he said.
As the pharmacy search committee's graduate student representative, Beverly Benson, Lawrence, spoke for the school's approximately 150 graduate students in five departments. Although faculty may feel a new dean's impact for a longer time, they still value the student perspective. Benson said.
Keith Jones, law student representative, said he planned to give law students opportunities to voice their concerns.
"The candidates will say things, talk more openly," he said. "Sometimes they show their true colors, and maybe sometimes they feel more comfortable and come across better."
"The faculty actually wants the students' input," she said. "I really, in this case, do not feel that the students are there as to token student members."
"It's a tougher job than it was. Once upon a time the University was an ivory tower and you didn't have to care about the outside world, but now you do."
"At the review forums, essentially I'm going in and saying that I need some direction." Jones said. "Once we've narrowed it down to six people, those six are brought in and they meet with the students one-one. They get a lot of involvement directly."
David Shulenberger vice chancellor for academic affairs
Students haven't always had the opportunity to have such direct input on search committees. Although students began pushing for more involvement in University decision-making in the late 1960s, it was not until 1976 that guidelines for including students in dean searches appeared in the faculty handbook.
Today students may pick up candidates at the airport or attend discussion forums. They may request candidates.
their projects or ask the candidates to explain their philosophy on education.
Students not only can size up the candidates, but also can give the candidates a flavor of their specific needs.
But until the final candidates arrive on campus, confidentiality reigns.
HUSH HUSH
For zealous students like architecture student Jose Fernandez, the confidentiality factor, though understood, is frustrating.
"What we're dealing with is an employment process really, and with that, the people who are part of the candidate pool are at the same time trying to maintain jobs," he said. "The confidential nature is done exclusively as a professional courtesy to a candidate."
"I care a lot," he said, "and I want to have a part in deciding who the next dean is."
But the secrecy is necessary, nonetheless, said Kent Spreckelmeyer, associate professor of architecture and head of the architecture dean search committee.
Finding suitable candidates, ensuring confidentiality and involving students all require that the committee members stay sensitive to needs of the school and their potential new deans, said Keith Meyer, professor of law and head of the law dean search committee.
"The process is not an easy one," Meyer said. "We want to help get someone who will help us continue the tradi-
WHO IS REPRESENTING YOU?
"Dean searches are a mirror image of real life — like with Congress or the President — people are going to represent you the rest of your life."
ARCHITECTURE
Cal Jones Kansas City, Mo., senior president, National Organization of Minority Architecture Students
BelleVille graduate student
"There's only a minimum of students getting interested. It would be nice if we had a broad range of students showing interest. I don't think it's because they don't care. I think it's because they don't feel like they have any power."
— Brad Skipton
Belleville graduate student
EDUCATION
"As far as the system goes, students could give their input ... They had equal say. Each had a time to speak with a candidate alone and discuss any topic that was on their mind."
— Caroline Elton
Overland Park, senior
president, School of Education
Student Organization
"The School of Education is very complex. What we're really looking for in a dean is a small college president. We are asking a lot of the dean."
- Mary Myers
Lawrence graduate student assistant director, Organizations and Activities Center
LAW
"it's my role to express the concerns that are uniquely student-oriented. I would want to take stances that I feel would be in the best interest of students' opinions, student wants, student desires and student needs,"
— Keith Jones
Tulsa, Okla. law student vice president, KU Student Bar Association
PHARMACY
"Students always have concerns about where their education will be going, and they want to make sure they'll have a dean who's in touch with their needs ... I feel that I understand what's needed in a dean as far as the students and the school is concerned." — Elise Ash
president, Kappa Epsilon, a pharmacy sorority
"I feel like the students are given time a bit of give to speak and our voices are heard. In fact, we're encouraged. The faculty actually wants the students' input. I really, in this case, do not feel that the students are there as token student members."
Beverly Benson Lawrence graduate student president, Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Student Organization
Robert Jerry, outgoing dean of the School of Law
July 1, 1989 — Jerry is appointed dean of the School of Law, replacing Mike Davis.
August 20,1993 Jerry announces he will
The Search to Replace...
step down from his position as of June 30, 1994.
**Fall 1993 — Eight-member committee begins soliciting nominations for new dean.**
n February - March, 1994
— Committee invites six finalists to campus for interviews.
July 1, 1994 — Intended starting date of the newly selected law dean.
Dec. 1, 1993 -- Committee begins screening process.
Howard Mossberg,
former dean of pharmacy
Spring 1992—Howard
Mossberg accepts the
position as vice chancellor
for research and graduate
studies; Ronald
Borchardt, chair of pharmaceutical chemistry,
acts as interim dean.
Spring 1993 — The dean search committee
Fall 1993 — The search committee begins reviewing about 15 applications.
produces two finalists both of whom decline the position.
Jan. 1, 1993 — Soonest date a new dean could be appointed
Early December — The committee invites the four candidates to KU; a list with recommendations is prepared for the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, David Shulenberger.
Max Lucas, outgoing dean of the School of Architecture
April 1980 - Max Lucas is appointed new dean of the School of Architecture, replacing Dean Charles Kahn.
Sept. 13, 1993 Lucas announces his
July 1, 1994 — The new dean's appointment is expected to begin
decision to step down as of June 30, 1994; a search committee is formed
Fall 1993 —The search committee solicits nominations and by early December has about 10 applications.
Jan, 4, 1994 — The committee plans to begin paring down its list of applicants to about six candidates
Ed Meyen, former dean of education
July 18, 1992 -- Meyen become executive vice chancellor; Richard Whelan, professor of special education, assumes the position as acting education dean.
Spring 1993 Though a search committee selected three candidates in Fall 1992, David Shulenberger, vice掌cellor for academic affairs, decides not to hire any of them.
Summer 1993 — The University appoints a second search committee.
Oct. 25 - Nov. 18, 1993 Four selected candidates visit campus. Nov. 24, 1993 The search committee makes its recommendations.
Jan 1, 1994—Earliest expected date a new dean could be appointed.