Three competing candidates for Dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences (CLASS) spoke to faculty and students last week in the hopes of being chosen for the position.
Students and faculty assembled in the Biella Room at CSU East Bay (CSUEB) library on three separate occasions over the last week in order to hear each candidate state their case for why they deserve the job.
The Dean of CLASS oversees a diverse collection of 18 departments, including Anthropology, English, Communication, Political Science, and Theater and Dance, to name a few.
Attendees were asked to fill out an evaluation of each candidate, which will guide the search committee in making a recommendation to the president of CSUEB.
The three candidates are Kathleen Rountree, CLASS Interim Dean at CSUEB; Dr. Kit Spicer, former Dean of the College of Fine Arts & Communication at Towson University in Maryland; and Dr. Renée Curry, former Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at CSU Monterey Bay.
All three echoed similar messages of mutual cooperation and collaboration between students and faculty during difficult financial times in the CSU system.
Rountree, the incumbent, spoke on the first night about the passion she has for CLASS.
“It’s about enriching the world with arts and communication, it’s about enabling our society to be a democratic society filled with people who know how to make decisions,” she said.
The mood became serious after Rountree spoke about possible academic program reorganizations or cuts, and the need for each department to focus on priorities.
“The question I’d like you to ask is if you should be running for the hills, because I’d like the opportunity to say no,” said Rountree. “I hope that we can make the cuts we need to make with the most delicate instrument we have.”
On the second night, Spicer told the story of his professional history and the lessons he learned along the way, going from a master’s student, to a professor and eventually to dean.
“It’s important to find avenues to collaborate with other components of the university,” said Spicer, “get out of your tower and out of your shell, and [figure out] how we work with other components.”
Spicer also said working at a small university allowed him to gain vital experience in a wide array of roles many others lack.
“At a small college you automatically become a utility infielder,” said Spicer. “So, over the years I had the opportunity to create and teach any number of courses” such as non-verbal communication, public relations, mass media and society.
Curry was the only candidate to use a detailed PowerPoint presentation, highlighting experience she gained over a 21-year career in the CSU system as professor, department chair and dean.
“With a strong set of listening skills, a humble attitude, the building of trust, and deep knowledge of academia, I could proceed to facilitate and move the college forward, toward our collective goals,” she said.
Curry said she felt strongly any future vision for CLASS must be faculty driven with focus on the students’ needs first and foremost.
“For any vision I have for the university,” Curry said, “students are going to be at the center of it.”
Now that all candidates have had a chance to make their cases, the CLASS Dean Search Committee meet today to make their recommendation to the administration.