The search is under way for the next dean of the School of Nursing.
The committee charged with finding the new dean met for the first time last week with nursing school faculty to discuss the search and selection process.
It was my attempt to inform the faculty as to how the process would play out and what their role as a faculty would be"" said Bob Blouin, dean of the School of Pharmacy and chairman of the search committee.
I expressed to them my desire for transparency" with the understanding that there will be times when privacy is necessary" he said.
Linda Cronenwett, who has served as dean for almost 10 years, announced last spring that she would not seek another five-year term in the position.
It is both her hope and a goal of the search committee to have a new dean take office by July 1.
I think 10 years is the right amount of time for an individual to lead a school" because it gives you time to make progress and have a good team in place" Cronenwett said. And I'm of the age when one would expect to not be seeking another term.""
Cronenwett said her biggest accomplishments in her decade of leading the school have been increasing its size and scope.
During her tenure" the School of Nursing almost doubled its physical size with a $20 million addition completed in 2005.
Student enrollment and incoming class diversity has also been continuously growing Cronenwett said.
She said 24 percent of undergraduate enrollments in the past three years have been non-white students.
But despite improving facilities and student enrollment" Cronenwett and Blouin both emphasized that the new dean would face challenges with retaining and adding faculty.
""There will be considerable turnover during the next decade as the baby-boomers retire" Cronenwett said. Our average age is very high in this school" and we're looking at a large number of retirements.""
Blouin also said the search committee would look for a candidate who could interact with the state's pressing need for more manpower in the nursing field.
And for some" like clinical professor and search committee member Shielda Rodgers" the main challenge for a new dean deals with both consistency and change.
""Another area will be how to continue to strive for excellence in our mission involving research" education and service Rodgers said.
But any time you're losing someone who's been there for 10 years the faculty is anxious" just because you have that unknown and you don't know what's next.""
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