Budget Woes Slow University Hiring

Positions that are empty now or that will be vacated in the next year are the vice chancellors for information technology and student affairs and the deans of the education, pharmacy and social work schools.

UNC Provost Robert Shelton said officials are forming small groups to determine what to look for in the search committees for the vacant vice chancellor positions.

Shelton said officials are not beginning the search right now partly because of state budget concerns.

"We need to know what our budget is going to be before we can start our search," he said. "We have to be able to tell the successful candidate what kind of resources they are going to have."

Shelton said the University is not going to be in a good position to tell candidates what to expect for some time, so officials made it clear from the beginning that the interims would be in place long term.

He said he is very confident in Dean Bresciani, interim vice chancellor for student affairs, and Steve Jarrell, interim vice chancellor for information technology

Bresciani said his progression from associate vice chancellor for student services to interim vice chancellor for student affairs was smooth and natural.

"It's not as if there was a lot going on that I wasn't already aware of or involved with," he said.

Bresciani said that Shelton's and Chancellor James Moeser's support has made it clear to him that they trust him and that he doesn't feel overwhelmed because he is only occupying the position temporarily.

But Bresciani said he is hesitant to institute any major policies or to make any decisions that would be difficult to reverse.

Shelton said officials plan to start the search for both vice chancellor positions in January, and they anticipate that the searches will last six months to one year, Shelton said.

He said the new vice chancellors could be in office as soon as next fall, but officials will not rush for the sake of permanency.

Shelton said it is not uncommon for simultaneous searches to be conducted and added that having five searches for top-level administrators at the same time is "a little high but not unusual."

The University is close to hiring a dean for the School of Social Work. The name of the final candidate will be submitted to the UNC Board of Trustees soon, and if all goes well, the new dean could start as early as October, said Shelton.

The search for the dean of the School of Pharmacy is well under way, and there are 24 active candidates, he said.

Shelton said the search for a dean of the School of Education has just begun. Madeleine Grumet announced this summer that she will vacate the position in June 2003.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.