The University currently has five interim deans and one vice chancellor and is looking for new deans during its time of budget uncertainty.
The current interim deans are Gaines Foster (College of Humanities and Social Sciences), Ralph Izard (Manship School of Mass Communication), Laura Lindsay (College of Education), Ken Carpenter (College of Art and Design) and James Stoner (Honors College while Nancy Clark is on sabbatical). Doris Carver is serving as interim vice chancellor for research and economic development.
While there are several interims, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Jane Cassidy said only the Manship School is currently undergoing a search for a new dean.
The 13-member Manship search committee is chaired by Foster and Paul M. Hebert Law Center Chancellor Jack Weiss.
Weiss said the search is still in the early stages, and the committee will accept applications until Nov. 1, but it will not rule out applications received after that date.
“We have a substantial number of promising applications,” Weiss said. “Then we’re going to winnow the field down and are shooting for on-campus interviewing at the latest January, maybe early February.”
Foster said the Manship search committee has only spent money to place job ads in national publications. There were about six or seven ads placed that cost around $4,000, Foster said.
The search committee expenses came out of Manship School funds, Foster said.
He said the committee has not decided how many candidates to bring to Baton Rouge, but it probably won’t be more than three applicants.
Cassidy said the search for a new College of Humanities and Social Sciences dean will begin soon, and searches for College of Education and College of Art and Design deans will hopefully begin next year, “but it depends a little on the budget cut situation.”
Cassidy said search committees can often be expensive to maintain. If a college chooses to hire a search firm, Cassidy said it can cost from $50,000 to $100,000.
Even if a college doesn’t hire a search firm, searches are still expensive. The college has to pay airfare, hotel and meal expenses for each candidate brought to the campus, and candidates often visit several times, Cassidy said.
After making an offer to a candidate, the college has to pay moving expenses. Deans are highly paid, but some also require a start-up cost, Cassidy said.
Cassidy stressed the importance of looking outside the University for new administration.
“It’s a fresh look at what you do,” Cassidy said. “You almost always take a step forward when you bring in someone with a fresh set of eyes.”
While it will be hard to recruit outsiders to a struggling budget situation, Cassidy said the University is lucky to have the interims it has.
“We feel really fortunate we have people really qualified who are internal to the University until we have enough money to recruit top-notch people,” Cassidy said.
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Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]