Kennesaw State’s Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Linda Noble announced a string of new deans and interim deans during May in an attempt to fill these positions during the university’s transition in leadership.
In an email to faculty and staff on May 7, Noble gave an update on the interim dean positions at KSU. She said the university was “finishing up” two national searches for dean positions in the College of Computing and Software Engineering and the Bagwell College of Education. The email was not sent to students.
She also reminded faculty and staff of two previous announcements that Dr. Tim Blumentritt is serving as interim dean for the College of Continuing and Professional Education and Dr. Ivan Pulinkala is serving as interim dean for the College of the Arts.
Noble also said the university was seeking nominations for interim dean positions for the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
This meant that nearly half of KSU’s 13 colleges were transitioning or about to start transitioning leadership roles.
Noble has since announced permanent deans for two colleges. In an email to faculty and staff on May 16, she said that Jon Preston will serve as the dean for the College of Computing and Software Engineering effective June 1.
According to the email, Preston has more than 25 years of experience in administrative leadership and teaching with the University System of Georgia. Preston has served as the interim dean of the college since June 2016.
The search process for this dean position, from the time Preston was named as interim dean to the time he was named as the permanent dean, took nearly two years.
Noble said that this was a normal timeframe, mentioning that the process to interview and hire a qualified candidate to a dean position can often take more than a year.
Noble later announced on May 18 that Cynthia Reed will take over as the new dean of the Bagwell College. According to KSU News, Reed previously served as dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Northern Kentucky University.
Reed will take over as dean on Aug. 6 after Arlinda Eaton, Bagwell’s current dean, retires on June 30.
KSU did not start accepting applications for that dean position until February, which means that the search process lasted approximately four months.
When asked why there was a significant difference in time frames between the search for the Bagwell College dean and the Computing and Software Engineering dean, Noble did not give an answer.
Noble also announced in an email to faculty and staff on May 21 that Renee Butler will take over as interim dean of the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology effective July 1.
Butler currently serves as assistant dean of operations within the college and has more than 13 years of experience in academia, according to the email.
Although Noble promised that “final decisions should be made within the next few weeks” in her email on May 7, no announcements have been made about who will take over as the interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The current dean, Robin Dorff, plans to leave KSU to take over as provost at Plymouth State University effective July 1.
Noble said transition in higher education is inevitable as leaders retire or take on higher positions elsewhere. Five of the deans at KSU have recently left to take on provost positions at other universities.
“We are proud of the successes of our departing colleagues but at the same time we are excited at the opportunities in front of the leaders who are now serving to guide our colleges,” Noble said. “We are very fortunate at KSU to have experienced and talented faculty such as Drs. Renee Butler, Ivan Pulinkala, and Tim Blumentritt, who are able to step up during these times of transition.”
Noble said that KSU will have a total of three interim deans serving at the university out of the 12 colleges and that a rate of 25 percent for interim deans is not uncommon when compared to other USG institutions.
The number of interim deans will rise to four, however, once an interim dean is announced for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Noble said that the lack of permanent leadership within a college should not have much of an impact on the college’s operations.
“We are calling upon capable, experienced administrators to step into these positions, and we are confident that they will continue to lead these colleges effectively,” Noble said.
Heather Pincock, a professor of conflict management and faculty senate member, said that this transitional period in leadership at KSU could last years. While the BOR plans to have the university’s president hired by July 1, the four dean positions must also be filled.
The previous Provost and now Interim President Ken Harmon also said in February that, once a new president is named, he plans to step down into a faculty position in the School of Accountancy at KSU.
Pincock said that this means the university might also need to start a national search for a new provost and vice president of academic affairs once Harmon decides to step down from his position as Provost after a new president is selected.
