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January 25, 2007

Administrator searches continue

Searches for four high-level administrators continue, as Pitt looks for a new dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) and a director of the University Center for International Studies (UCIS), as well as for presidents of Pitt-Greensburg and Pitt-Johnstown.

According to Robert F. Pack, vice provost for academic planning and resources management who chairs the search committees for the heads of UPJ and UPG, the regional campus search committees have identified a relatively large number of candidates who are visiting during January and February.

At Greensburg, 10 candidates to succeed retiring campus President Frank A. Cassell have been invited to campus for interviews and presentations to faculty, staff and students, Pack said. Cassell is retiring June 30.

The Johnstown search is seeking a successor to Albert E. Etheridge, who also is retiring June 30. Nine candidates have been invited to the campus, Pack said. The new presidents are expected to be in place by the time the current presidents retire, he said.

Regional campus presidents report to the provost. Both searches are being managed by Washington, D.C.-based R.H. Perry & Associates.

At GSPIA, David Y. Miller has been serving a one-year appointment as interim dean since July 1. Miller was named to succeed Carolyn Ban, who is on a one-year sabbatical and will return to a teaching position at the school next fall.

Andrew Blair, vice provost for faculty affairs who chairs the GSPIA dean’s search committee, said, “We started this search more than a year ago, and we identified some good candidates. But they did not work out.” The provost then charged committee members to re-start the search, which they did last summer, Blair said.

“Since then, we identified eight candidates who came to interview on campus at the school, and following that process, we recommended a somewhat smaller number of candidates to the provost. So that part of the search is complete. I’m cautiously optimistic because of the high quality of the candidates that the provost will name a new GSPIA dean from that shorter list.”

Blair added that the hope is to have a new dean in place by the beginning of the fall term.

At UCIS, the provost has named Wolfgang Schlör, associate director of UCIS, as interim director while the search continues for the successor to William I. Brustein. Brustein left the University Dec. 31 for a position at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign.

George E. Klinzing, vice provost for research who chairs the search committee, said the committee hopes to recommend three to five candidates to the provost during February. He said six candidates are coming to campus over the next few weeks.

The hope is to have a new UCIS director in place by Aug. 1, Klinzing said.

The new UCIS director also will serve as senior director of international programs.

—Peter Hart


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