University Times

Pitt has launched a new, national search for a permanent dean of the College of General Studies (CGS).

The college's last permanent dean, Robert L. Carter, resigned last August after one year on the job. Carter had failed to draft a CGS strategic plan that was acceptable to his boss, Provost James Maher.

Since then, Maher has approved a plan developed under CGS interim Dean Jack L. Daniel. And to unite Pitt's various non-traditional student programs under one roof, the provost last fall made the Office of Summer Sessions and Continuing Education part of CGS.

Daniel, who also is vice provost for Academic Affairs, chairs the CGS search committee.

"We need a person who fully understands the needs of non-traditional students, who understands the opportunities provided by distance education and instructional use of the Internet," Daniel said. "We need someone with innovative ideas for instruction through continuing education and summer sessions. And we need a person who can do all of that while maintaining a standard of quality appropriate for a research university."

The search committee hopes to begin interviewing candidates this fall, he said. "If things really move expeditiously, we would like to recommend finalists to the provost by the end of the fall term, so the new dean could begin work on July 1 or Sept. 1, 1999," Daniel said.

In addition to Daniel, the search committee includes faculty members nominated by their deans and appointed by Provost Maher, along with provost-appointed administrators and other members representing students, staff and alumni.

Faculty members include Joseph Adjaye, of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Africana studies department; Frank Colavita, of the FAS psychology department; Ida Flynn, of the School of Information Sciences; Lee Gutkind, of the FAS English department; Edward Palascak, of the College of Business Administration, and Lee Weinberg, of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Other committee members include Roberta Czarnecki, representing the CGS Student Government; Diane Davis, director of the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education; Kathleen DeWalt, FAS associate dean for Graduate Studies and Research; CGS staff member Kathleen Flanigan; CGS Alumni Council representative Janet Frisch, and Barbara Mowery, representing Pitt's Staff Association Council.

— Bruce Steele