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December 7, 1995

Chancellor, dean searches progress

During the spring 1996 semester, candidates for Pitt administrative jobs should be popping up on campus like daisies.

Search committees for a permanent chancellor and at least three deanships plan to bring in candidates for interviews — and then recommend finalists — during the next two-to-six months.

The following is an update on current searches.

The list does not include the School of Medicine, where a search for a permanent dean will be put off until Pitt hires a permanent chancellor. Since Nov. 1, pathology department chairperson George Michalopoulos has been interim medical dean. He replaced George Bernier, who resigned to become dean of medicine and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Chancellor Pitt trustee James C. Roddey, who chairs the chancellor search committee, said the group hopes to narrow the list of chancellor candidates to five by early spring. The committee would invite those candidates to Pittsburgh for interviews with representatives of various University constituencies, and then recommend three finalists to the Board of Trustees by late May.

"Just speaking for myself, I get the feeling it [picking finalists] will happen even sooner than that," Roddey said.

He noted, however, that board chairperson J. W. Connolly did not give the committee a deadline and, in fact, urged members to be "very deliberate" in finding the best candidates possible.

This fall, the search committee held open hearings on all five Pitt campuses. The committee recently began poring over the approximately 110 applications and nominations it has received so far, in addition to following up on another dozen or so candidates that the committee itself has approached.

Roddey said the group hopes to review materials on about 50 of the candidates by mid-December. He said the committee will continue looking over the existing candidates, and evaluating new ones, through the winter.

Meanwhile, a subcommittee headed by trustee Martha Munsch is drafting a detailed profile of the next chancellor, based on qualities that search committee members believe Pitt's chief executive should possess. According to Roddey, the profile will be based partly on a recent report by a team of outside experts hired to assess the current state of the University and suggest qualities Pitt should look for in its next chancellor. The Board of Trustees has scheduled day-long meetings on Dec. 16 and Jan. 13 to discuss the consultants' report. Roddey said he hopes to present his committee's proposed chancellor profile for board approval at the Jan. 13 meeting.

Of the applicants and nominees so far, Roddey said: "Some, we definitely want to pursue. Several others clearly are not qualified. And some others, we will be seeking more information about." Assisting the search committee in finding candidates and checking their backgrounds is the Dallas-based search consulting firm of Korn/Ferry International.

Interim Chancellor Mark Nordenberg has not said publicly whether he will apply for the job on a permanent basis.

Arts and Sciences Searches for a new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and a new dean of graduate studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) will remain on hold until Pitt's senior administration decides whether to revise the current administrative structure of the arts and sciences.

This week, Provost James Maher announced the membership of a committee formed to study that issue and make recommendations to the administration.

FAS Restructuring Committee members include: Toni Carbo Bearman, dean of the School of Library and Information Science; Frank Giarratani, economics; Susan Hansen, political science; Beverly Harris-Schenz, vice provost for faculty affairs (committee chairperson); Peter Karsten, history; Katheryn Linduff, history of art and architecture; Gerald Massey, philosophy; Barbara Mowery, representing the Staff Association Council; Johanna Moore, computer science; Juerg Saladin, physics and astronomy; Edward Stricker, neuroscience; Christine Vaflor, Student Government Board representative; and Jennifer Wiley, representing the FAS Graduate Student Organization. Linda Wykoff of the Provost's office will provide staff support.

In September, Mary L. Briscoe and Mary Lou Soffa announced that they will resign next summer as CAS dean and FAS graduate studies dean, respectively, to return to faculty duties.

The two deans announced their plans jointly but said they reached their decisions to resign independently of each other.

At the time, Provost Maher said the resignations of two of Pitt's three arts and sciences deans — the other is FAS Dean Peter Koehler — provided an opportunity to address criticisms that have been voiced about the administrative structure of the arts and sciences at Pitt.

Business The search committee seeking a new dean of the Katz Graduate School of Business plans to recommend 3-5 finalists to Provost Maher by Feb. 15, said chairperson Edward Sell.

Sell, a law professor, said the committee has received about 35 applications so far "plus an awful lot of nominations. Some of these [nominees] we've written to, but have not yet received replies from." Of the applications the committee has reviewed so far, "we've seen some very good candidates, and some who were obviously not in the ballpark for what we're looking for," Sell said.

The new dean will succeed H.J. Zoffer, who has been dean for 27 years and plans to retire as early as June if a successor is found by then.

General Studies The committee searching for a new dean of the College of General Studies (CGS) likewise hopes to recommend 3-5 finalists to Provost Maher by Feb. 15, according to committee chairperson Jack Daniel.

The committee received about 105 applications and reduced that to a short list of candidates, whom the committee plans to bring to campus for interviews in January, Daniel said. He declined to specify the number of candidates on the short list because the committee has not contacted all of them yet.

"I can say that the candidates are very outstanding people. It is hard for me to say more without revealing who they are, but it is a very outstanding short list," said Daniel, who is vice provost for academic affairs.

Daniel did say that none of the candidates on the short list are from Pitt.

Robert Comfort has been interim CGS dean since John Bolvin retired in February 1994.

GSPIA The search committee for a new dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs plans to begin reviewing files of applicants and nominees in mid-December, bring candidates to campus in February and submit the names of 3-5 finalists to Provost Maher by the end of February, said committee chairperson Morton Coleman.

So far, the committee has received about 20 applications. "A few of the candidates look strong, but we were hoping for a larger pool of high-quality applicants," said Coleman, a social work professor. He said the committee plans to work "aggressively" in the next two months to recruit more high-quality candidates.

Davis Bobrow resigned as GSPIA dean in January, citing differences over management style and philosophy with Maher. GSPIA professor Martin Staniland has been the school's interim dean since March.

— Bruce Steele and Mike Sajna

Filed under: Feature,Volume 28 Issue 8

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