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`On Thursday, Feb. 12, faculty and students met in the Myers Auditorium of McComsey Hall to participate in a public forum session for the new dean of science and mathematics.
A candidate for the position, Chairperson of the Department of Mathematics Dr. Robert T. Smith, gave a 30 minute presentation on, “The Role of the Science and Mathematics Dean.”
Search Committee Chair Dr. Jean Bowl introduced Smith at 3:30 p.m., and explained that Dr. Edward Shane, dean of science and mathematics, would be retiring after 10 years of service. There are five candidates being reviewed to fill his position. The search committee will be holding five public forums for each of the candidates.
Smith presented a power point on what he believed the roles of the dean are.
Dr. Robert Smith, chairperson of the department of mathematics, presents a powerpoint to fellow faculty and students. Photo by Christian Shuts.
He began with a brief description of what a dean does, stressing that these roles were just the beginning of a list of responsibilities. These roles he stated were to be a manager, public spokesperson, advisor to the provost, advocate for science and math, faculty developer, and a strategic planner.
He then offered a more detailed description of what the roles of dean were such as continuing the success of what the program does well and to constantly look to the future, to provide the highest quality program in science and math, to support teaching, learning, research, outreach and diversity.
Smith spoke strongly on his views of dean as a supporter of faculty and staff development.
Recruiting the best faculty and staff possible, providing the faculty with resources and support to be successful and to promote excellence in teaching and scholarship services were the main points that he presented.
He ended his presentation with what he felt were the most important roles as a dean of math and science.
These roles are of an advocate for the school, meaning that the dean must be articulate and enthusiastic.
The dean must be an academic leader, viewing the school as a single entity rather than seven separate departments.
A dean is a financial manager, targeting budgets to enhance student learning and research.
After the informative speech the floor was open for questions and answers.
“Very organized,” Math Professor Dorothee Blum called his presentation. “He touched on all the important points. Having had experience, he knows what is possible and what is not, he is going in with his eyes open.”
He was questioned on how to control class sizes.
He believed that the chairs of the department and the dean should work together to fit in students.
He would also like to see more classes in the 100 level grades rather than cutting upper level classes.
He was asked on ways that staff should manage their workload. His response was to, “be creative, and to encourage faculty to apply for grants and do more scholarship.” If a professor is participating in research they should get a lighter class schedule.
This answer caused a rebuttal, pointing out that the rest of the staff has to pick up the pieces and workload.
“We are supportive of grants because it will give the school back when it is done. I agree that some of the load gets shifted, and we will take turns balancing it out,” Smith answered.
The hour was cut short due to the lack of questions being asked.
The audience was then asked to hand in evaluations on the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.
There will be two open forums this week, check the Millersville website for times and locations.