Kennesaw State named four new deans for its colleges in March and April, ending a period since June 2018 in which nearly half of the colleges did not have permanent deans.
According to the KSU’s website, new deans have been named for KSU’s College of the Arts, College of Professional Education, College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering.
Dean of the College of the Arts Ivan Pulinkala and Dean of the College of Professional Education Tim Blumentritt both served interim roles in their colleges before being named permanent deans.
The new Dean of the College of Humanities, Shawn Long, currently serves as associate dean of the University of North Carolina’s College of Liberal Arts.
The new dean of the engineering college, Ian Ferguson, currently serves as a professor of engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he has also served as dean for the university’s engineering college.
The rapid addition of new personnel comes after KSU has struggled with its number of serving deans. Since June 2018, nearly half of the university’s colleges have lacked permanent deans.
When asked about the new CHSS dean, Interim Director of the CHSS’s Distance Education Program Stephen Bartlett seemed optimistic about Long’s appointment.
“I feel that Dr. Long stood out as an exceptionally strong candidate with a clear understanding of the challenges and complexities of KSU’s largest college,” Bartlett said. “I believe Dr. Long will prove a formidable champion of online education and of the faculty and students of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. I’m excited to see where his leadership will take us.”
CHSS Dean Search Committee member Andrew Pieper explained the process by which deans are chosen.
Pieper said that after the search committee receives applications for the open dean position, they narrow the list down to between eight and 12 possible candidates. They perform phone or video interviews with each individual and choose three or four final candidates, who then hold meetings and presentations on campus for faculty and students to attend.
Pieper said the search committee then holds a meeting to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, and the university’s provost makes the final decision on which candidate is appointed dean.
In an April 19 email to students and faculty, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Kathy Schwaig also announced new interim deans for the Coles College of Business, the College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Architecture and Construction Management.
The new interim deans are Director of the Michael A. Leven School of Management, Entrepreneurship and Hospitality and Professor of Management Robin Cheramie, Professor of Biology Don McGarey and Chair of the Department of Construction Management and Professor of Construction Management Khalid Siddiqi.
