NEWS
Graduate school searches for new dean
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by Julia Westhoff
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
When Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw accepted a position at a California state school in fall 2001, UW-Madison began the search for her replacement. Little progress has been made and no prospective candidates have been announced.
Formal action began over winter break when a committee comprised of faculty, staff and students met with Chancellor John Wiley to establish applicants’ necessary credentials.
“The qualifications we are looking for involve a combination of many characteristics, some of the most important being excellent scholarship and an ability to lead,” said Jo Handlesman, UW plant pathology professor and chair of the search committee.
Hinshaw resigned to pursue a position as provost and executive vice chancellor of the University of California-Davis.
Martin Cadwallader is acting as interim dean while the committee conducts a nationwide search for applicants.
The dean is charged with the responsibility of administering the graduate school’s $130 million budget and overseeing a wide array of research programs with an annual budget of more than $500 million.
The dean is also the chief research officer, principal advisor to the chancellor and the provost of research, and is therefore responsible for the instructional and research environment of more than 8,700 students.
David Musolf, secretary of the faculty, said he is happy with the progress Cadwallader has made in the last semester.
“He’s been great,” he said. “He knows the lay of the land just fine.”
Applications for the position are due in March. In the meantime, the committee’s goal is to promote the position’s availability. In March, the committee will pick three to five candidates for Wiley to choose from.
“We’re trying to generate a large and diverse pool of candidates,” Handlesman said.
Despite the initial meeting of the committee, there is not a prospective candidate for the job. “The idea is to be objective,” Kent Barrett of UW Communications said. “They have no pre-conceived notions of who to hire.”
