Of the six colleges at WSU, only the College of Fine Arts can boast a fully appointed dean. The Colleges of Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Business and Engineering all have interim appointments, while the college of Health Professions will have an interim dean announced by President Bardo in the near future.

“We have quite a bit of transition under way, which is not all that unusual when you have a change of senior leadership,” said Keith Pickus, interim provost.

Due to the extreme amount of resources a dean search consumes, only a few colleges can be actively searching for a new dean.

“It takes tremendous amounts of energy, time and focus to do a senior administrative search like this. To do it well, the senior leadership has to fully engage and be out recruiting for these positions,” Pickus said.

For example, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will require a particularly skilled candidate.

“The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences accounts for half of the faculty, half of the student majors, and half of the credit hours, roughly. . .You would need to have somebody with some breadth of experience to handle that easily,” said Dr. Ron Matson, interim dean for the College of LAS. “You would need to have somebody who comes out of this college setting to understand it.”

Some colleges will remain under interim supervision longer than others. Matson provides strong leadership to the College of LAS, Pickus said. As a result of his strong performance, the executive administration is considering not beginning Liberal Arts and Sciences’ search until the fall following Fall 2013.

On the other hand, December brought in a cold spell for the College of Engineering. As Dr. Toro-Ramos left her position as dean, Dr. Vish Prasad filled her place as an interim. A search for a permanent dean will begin promptly this fall.

An opening for dean also presents an opportunity for one to gain experience in a field they wouldn’t have normally considered.

“The timing seemed right, and where I was in my career and how things are going with the university– I never really before thought about being a dean,” said Dr. Cindy Claycomb, interim dean for the College of Business.

Claycomb has a strong background both in the academic realm as well as the business industry. She has served on WSU faculty for almost two decades before being offered this position.

To prepare herself for her appointment, Dr. Claycomb is attending workshops and conferences to learn about the ins and outs of being a dean.

“I feel excited for the opportunity,” Claycomb said.

Even with so many deans being absent, students can still feel at ease concerning the leadership of their colleges.

“We have some really talented and well-respected people in the interim position,” Pickus said.