The search for a new Dean of Students took an important turn Tuesday as the University of Wisconsin announced its four finalists to take over the office. But that does not mean students should look forwards to seeing the new dean in place when classes resume the first week in September, according to those involved in the process.
A 15-member selection committee settled the list of candidates to four names: Ivor Emmanuel, director of the International Student Affairs office at the University of Illinois, Luoluo Hong, assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Shepherd College in West Virginia, Randi S. Schneider, director of University Health Services at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Donald A. Schutt Jr., director of the Office of Human Resource Development at UW. The week, the committee turned the final four over to Chancellor John Wiley and Paul Barrows, Vice Chancellor for Student affairs.
Now, the selection is in administrative hands. Wiley and Barrows are responsible for making the final choice but must wait until after a series of “comprehensive” visits by each candidate, which will last until the end of August.
Then, it becomes a matter of how long it takes the selection to detach from his or her present station.
“It could be two days,” said Roger Howard, the interim Dean of Students. “Or, it could be more than a month.”
Secretary of the Faculty David Musolf, who was instrumental in the selection committee and whose office coordinates the next phase of meetings, expected the time frame to be a month or more. All of the potential selections have involved obligations at other universities, which will be particularly demanding in the first few weeks of school.
Although, Musolf said, “some people may be quite mobile.”
Howard, who has been acting as dean in place of Alicia Chávez since January, plans to hold the position only through August. As a result, he said, there will probably be a period where the Dean of Students seat is vacant.
In the meantime, Wiley and Barrows must find a way to operate the office until the new selection is in place. Howard suggested Barrows might delegate a rotation of staffers or take the seat himself temporarily, but called the possibility of naming another acting dean “unlikely”
When the search committee announced its finalists, Barrows said he was excited to take the search to the next level. But Howard said he thought the Vice Chancellor had hoped it would have finished earlier.
Jessica Miller, co-chair of the screening committee, said it took longer than expected to whittle the group down to four from nearly 100 applicants and nominees. Miller, who was one of five students on the committee, along with former Badger Herald editor Alexander Conant, is the former chair of Associated Students of Madison.
Miller also doubted the process could conclude by the end of August.
“I regret the timeframe pushed the process into the summer,” Miller said. “It would have been nice for the candidates to come and see campus when all the students are around.”
There is still “one major opportunity” for students to hold forum with the remaining candidates, as Letters and Science professor Julie D’Acci, the other co-chair, called it.
During the weeks of Aug. 12 and Aug. 19, each of the four candidates will make a presentation to students in question and answer format at the MSC Lounge. During that period, the visitors will also meet with the Faculty Senate Committee, student policies committee, governance groups, student affairs directors and interview with Wiley and Barrows. Bascom will offer a website on which students and faculty can post their feedback about the applicants, Musolf said.
Of course, this is also a chance for the four finalists to gauge the campus and the university and decide once and for all if they want the job. Musolf said Wiley and Barrows will test to see how sincerely each candidate desires UW’s Dean of Students office, which could be a major factor in the final selection according.
During months of discussions the screening committee sought those candidates as experienced and passionate as possible, and with a vision for where to take the office.
“The idea was to get four candidates the group agreed would be ideal for the job,” Miller said.
Schutt is the only finalist with experience at Madison, but Miller said the committee made no effort to keep candidates internal or otherwise.
Howard said any “edge” an applicant with UW experience would bring to the Dean of Students office “cuts both ways,” and Miller agreed, meaning the familiarity factor might be a deterrent as much as an advantage.
Schutt spent his undergraduate years at UW and received his masters and doctorate in Counselor Education at Iowa. Emmanuel and Schneider both received doctorates from Illinois, while Hong got her masters at Yale and doctored in Educational Leadership at LSU.
“They’re all very different people, with distinct personalities and different styles,” Miller said.
