Although the University is being forced to tighten its budget, three new deans will be added to the payroll this summer, pending the Board of Supervisors’ approval Thursday.Astrid Merget, provost and executive vice chancellor, said all three candidates bring extraordinary experience and are critical to the advancement of the University and its pursuit of the Flagship Agenda.”We need really good leadership,” Merget said. “Leadership is absolutely crucial in taking good ideas and goals and translating them into actions.”The three deans were hired as the result of national and international searches led by faculty search committees before Gov. Bobby Jindal announced the higher education budget cuts.Richard Koubek, professor and head of Penn State’s Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering, will be recommended to the Board as dean of the College of Engineering.”[Penn State’s] College of Engineering has been very successful, and he has been part of it,” Merget said.From waterways and levees and to oil and rebuilding infrastructure, Merget said engineering plays a vital role in Louisiana.Laurence Kaptain, dean and professor at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Va., will be recommended as dean of the College of Music & Dramatic Arts.”Kaptain is very unusual and very wonderfully unique,” Merget said. “He is also a great institution builder.”Merget said Kaptain understands both the academic and performance sides of the University.”He has been able to tap into the network and bring stars and master teachers into the classroom,” she said. “We need to do more of that to inspire our students.”Christopher D’Elia, regional associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and University of South Florida-St. Petersburg professor of environmental science and policy and of marine sciences, will be recommended as dean of the School of the Coast & Environment.”Dr. D’Elia knows the importance of developing research around coastal and ocean matters,” she said. “His credentials are impeccable.”Merget said the University is working hard to ensure budget cuts don’t affect the quality of the University or its academic mission.”Each of these leaders brings experience and enlightenment as to how you manage with fewer resources and at the same time preserve the essential academic program,” Merget said. “They’re inventive and clever.”–Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]