Editor's note: This is the seventh in an eight-part series describing the evaluations of Ohio University deans. Seven of the 10 deans who head OU's colleges were formally evaluated this year and an eighth called for his own review.The College of Fine Arts dean got a positive review from his faculty, staff and provost, but the college had the lowest faculty response rate of any this year.
Charles McWeeny, in his second year as dean, received a 73 percent approval rating from faculty and an 88 percent approval rating from staff. However, only 29 percent of the college's faculty responded.
It's hard to draw conclusions from it because there isn't enough of a return
McWeeny said, adding he wasn't sure why the rate was so low or what could be done to improve it.
Executive Vice President and Provost Kathy Krendl pointed to the numerous appointments McWeeny had to make this year and his push for Arts for Ohio, which allows students to attend Fine Arts events for free, as examples of his successes as dean.
Krendl, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment further, preferring to let her written comments speak for themselves.
McWeeny said Arts for Ohio has been extremely successful, though OU won't have final data until June. He did not release preliminary data.
The preliminary numbers are pretty fantastic he said, adding that the program fits with the college's mission of both training professional artists and delivering the arts to the community.
In terms of searches, McWeeny has run five successful searches and made an additional six appointments, all for director-level positions. McWeeny attributed high turnover to random chance, not any problems in the college.
It's kind of shocking ' the only person still here is the director of the School of Dance he said. That's almost a full-time job over a year ' all those searches.
In his self-evaluation, the dean pointed to student achievement to demonstrate the college's successes. For the past two years, College of Fine Arts students have received 20 percent of the Provost Undergraduate Research Funding awards.
I think the faculty and students in the college are to be credited with that
McWeeny said, pointing out the disproportionate number of his 900 students earning the awards.
He also sees increased participation in the Fine Arts learning community as forwarding the college's missions and helping students feel like part of OU.
I think it's great for interdisciplinary programs because the students aren't isolated
McWeeny explained. I think culturally it's great.
Faculty complaints tended to fall into the area of communicating the college's goals.
I realize that it is difficult to plan for the future given the constantly changing messages from the administration
one faculty member wrote, but many faculty feel that we know where we're trying to take our school
but our vision is not shared or supported.
McWeeny said he wasn't sure why faculty felt left out because the whole college was involved in crafting the strategic plan. He and a faculty committee wrote the original plan and then discussed it with school directors and faculty.
I thought that was pretty thoroughly communicated. I'm not sure how much better to communicate those priorities
he said. I feel like I'm accessible but again
I try to look at these evaluations as a way I can try to improve.Some faculty also expressed concern about the dean taking comments too personally, but he said he doesn't do that.
I don't feel like the faculty's criticism of me has been personal. They're not saying
'You're bald
' or
