Recruited dean declines WSE post
By Xiao-Bo Yuan · The Johns Hopkins News-Letter · November 20, 2003
The appointment of a permanent replacement dean for the Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) has been tentatively delayed until next July, nine months later than the expected date, because the previously selected primary candidate opted out of the position for personal reasons.
A selection committee, currently comprised of 14 members appointed by President William Brody and chaired by Provost Steven Knapp, will continue seeking a leader to replace Interim Dean Andrew Douglas with the help of a search firm that specializes in generating high-caliber candidates.
Former Dean Ilene-Busch Vishniac vacated her position as the head administrator of the Whiting School after five years of service in one of the most prestigious academic slots in the nation. Vishniac has now returned to her role as a professor of mechanical engineering at Hopkins, and also serves as president of the Acoustical Society of America.
"Usually when a dean leaves," Knapp said, "there's an interim period to search for a new candidate, but this time, [Vishniac] announced that she was leaving a year early, so we could begin the search while she was still at Hopkins."
The search committee, which is set to be comprised of 15 members including Knapp, requires another student to fill the position of the undergraduate member who graduated last year.
The new undergraduate will be chosen according to the combined considerations of Knapp, Dean of Students Susan K. Boswell, and the Student Council (StuCo). The student candidate must ultimately be approved by Brody before participating in the committee.
According to Knapp, the selection committee found and focused on one strong candidate during the search process that began in January of this year. The committee had assumed the candidate would fill the position by January, 2004, but "for reasons having to do with the person's own institution," the potential replacement decided not to accept the offer Hopkins made.
However, as the search continues, Knapp emphasized that the lengthy delay resulted largely from concerns with the academic calendar, which makes it inconvenient to introduce a new dean before July 1. "We're very confident about finding someone suitable for the position," Knapp said.
Part of Knapp's certainty comes from the committee's decision to employ a professional search firm as a key tool in seeking qualified candidates, thus broadening the search base and making it possible to find nominees from diverse backgrounds.
The process begins as the search firm identifies a large pool of candidates, out of which it selects a smaller group for the first round of candidate interviews with the search committee. Each finalist must then undergo meetings with other faculty and students outside of the committee before an official appointment takes place.
Despite the toll that state budget cuts and reduced endowments have taken on Hopkins and most other universities around the country, Knapp insisted that a tightening budget will not affect the resources the University will put forth to find the best candidate possible.
"We're not unique [in regards to budget tightening]," Knapp said. "In fact, we're better off than many of our peer schools."
Knapp also maintains that the delay in appointing a dean will not directly impact students in terms of academics or research.
While Knapp acknowledges that obtaining a permanent dean will make it easier to move forward in research and hire new faculty, he points to the experience of the interim team as a guard against adverse effects on students.
"There are a lot of positive things going on in undergraduate programs because of the CUE Commission," Knap said, referring to the report produced last spring by the Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE), which contained recommendations on how to improve the undergraduate experience at Hopkins. "They won't be slowed down by the delay in finding a dean."
The pressure to secure a person of the highest academic caliber and research experience for leadership at Whiting is already high, but the standards escalate even more when taking into account the dean's uniquely independent role within the University, with the responsibilities of interacting with the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences as well as efficiently running the School of Engineering.
According to Knapp, Hopkins administrators have also been looking "more explicitly" at further engaging the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) with the Whiting School, hopefully opening opportunities for engineers to interact more with the APL in terms of research and teaching in PhD programs. The new dean should be "someone who appreciates the value of collaboration across disciplines and schools," Knapp said.
"The dean must know how to appoint good faculty and department chairs, and have the ability to understand personnel and handle fundraising." In a separate interview, Interim Dean Douglas stated that "The Whiting School is improving dramatically. The new Dean should provide resources to help students flourish."
Douglas, who served as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs under Vishniac and as Chair of the Department of Engineering, admits that his responsibilities have changed dramatically as leader of the interim management team at Whiting.
"Before, I basically had responsibility for three groups of students -- undergrad, doctoral students and students in the part-time masters program -- with some faculty duties," Douglas said. "Now I have responsibility for everyone in the school."
Despite the fact that his new role requires him to undertake budget concerns, fundraise and manage the faculty, Douglas said that he still maintains his involvement with students.
"I'm keeping student issues with me, like accreditations and the CUE recommendations," Douglas said.
Both Knapp and Douglas agreed that it is too early to conjecture what position Douglas will hold after a permanent dean has been appointed.