The administrative staff of Ohio University’s regional campuses will look radically different when regional students return in the fall.
OU’s Eastern and Zanesville campuses will be hiring new deans, and the Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit is currently looking for a new executive dean for regional campuses. All three positions should be appointed by May, said Ann Fidler, chief of staff to the provost and chief financial officer.
Currently Rich Greenlee is acting as the interim dean of both the Eastern and Zanesville campuses, but Interim Executive Dean of regional campuses James Fonseca said he will hire separate deans for the two campuses.
“It’s an opportunity to bring new folks in with new ideas,” Fonseca said.
The Provost’s Office will be hiring the new executive dean while Fonseca is heading the search for both regional campus deans. Even though the new executive dean should be announced in May, Fonseca will remain in the position until the end of June to assist in the search process.
In this stage of the search process, the provost and the regional campuses are accepting applications and reviewing candidates. Fidler said the search committee should begin interviewing executive dean finalists in April.
Search committees are usually comprised of faculty selected by the Provost as well as faculty and students that work close to the dean.
“The goal of these types of committees is to make sure there is strong faculty representation as well as making sure that other constituents have the opportunity to take part as well,” Fidler said.
The search for regional deans involves community members in addition to faculty, staff and students because of the local impact that regional campuses have.
“These are very small cities, so our regional campuses are cultural centers for the community,” Fonseca said.
While the regional deans must be integrated into their campus’ communities, the executive dean must have an understanding of all six OU campuses, including the Athens campus, Fonseca said, adding that he travels to a different campus almost daily in order to coordinate financial and administrative activities for the campuses.
As he examines candidates for regional deans, Fonseca said he’s looking for strong academic credentials and an understanding of technology in order to make the best decisions for the students and the facilities they must maintain.
Greenlee, who will retire once the new regional deans are in place, said the new deans should focus on expanding opportunities for regional students while continuing the work that was started before.
“Anytime there’s a change in leadership in the community there’s an opportunity to bring news skills to the community,” Greenlee said.
dk123111@ohiou.edu
TIMELINE:
Rich Greenlee
Interim Dean of Eastern & Zanesville campuses
Hired July 2009
James Smith
Dean, Lancaster campus
Hired August 2010
James Fonseca
Interim Executive Dean for Regional Campuses
Hired July 2011
Martin Tuck
Dean, Chillicothe campus
Interim: May 2011
Hired January 2013
