Interim Provost Dr. Ronald Mason announced that the dean of the College of Science and Mathematics plans to leave Kennesaw State on Mar. 31.
Dr. Mark Anderson will take on the position of provost at the University of Northern Colorado, according to an email sent to faculty and staff from KSU’s interim provost Ronald Matson.
University Spokeswoman Tammy DeMel said that the university has yet to decide who will fill the position of interim dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. Anderson’s departure from KSU marks the sixth college in the university without a permanent dean currently in the leadership position.
Currently, the College of Continuing and Professional Education, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of the Arts and the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology are all being led by interim deans.
Interim deans have not yet been named for the Coles College or the College of Science and Mathematics.
Anderson will be leaving soon after Dr. Kathy Schwaig, current dean of the Coles College of Business, takes on the role of KSU’s provost and vice president of academic affairs.
Schwaig will assume her new role on Feb. 18, and she will oversee the university’s academic affairs and the administration of each college. The Coles College will then be left without a permanent dean, along with four other departments.
After Anderson leaves, half of KSU’s colleges will again be in the middle of transitioning leadership roles, an issue that has been ongoing for at least eight months.
When the Bagwell College of Education was without a dean in early 2018, it took only a four-month search to name Cynthia Reed as the new dean. However, when Jon Preston was named interim dean of the College of Computing and Software Engineering in June 2016, he served in that position for nearly two years before he was named permanent dean in 2018, according to KSU’s website.
Drs. Tim Blumentritt, Ivan Pulinkala and Renee Butler, interim deans of the colleges of Continuing Education, Arts and Engineering Technology respectively, were all appointed to their positions in May 2018, according to faculty emails from then-interim provost Dr. Linda Noble.
Dr. Kerwin Swint, interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, has held his position since June 2018, according to a KSU press release.
A college’s dean oversees the daily operations of their department and manages the department’s faculty, funding and educational programs.