Dean search for College of Science and Technology Continues

Photo credit: Giselle Thomas 

Florida A&M University’s College of Science and Technology search committee held a meeting Friday to discuss the process of finding a new dean.

The previous dean of the College of Science and Technology, Maurice Edington, was promoted to Vice President for Strategic Planning, Analysis and Institutional Effectiveness of FAMU.

With the aid of Greenwood/Asher & Associates, Inc., the search committee set up a plan to hopefully find a new dean for the College of Science and Technology.

The search committee wants faculty, staff, and students to be involved. Multiple stakeholder meetings will be held to receive input from faculty, staff, and students.

A survey system called Qualtrix will be used to send surveys to anyone who cannot make the stakeholder meetings.

Although the search committee has put effort towards blurring the line between student, faculty, and staff, some students do not feel the same.

Timothy White, a sophomore biochemistry student, said he did not know the importance of the search.

“I was notified, but it didn’t feel like it was a big deal. I got three emails talking about the search for a dean, but I didn’t feel like administration made a big stir about the search,” White said.

Interview preparations are underway for dean candidates between the search committee and Greenwood/Asher.

Charles Weatherford, the Vice President for Research and Title III director, said advertisements for the search have not started but will have to be done quickly.

“We have to get the number down to three semifinalists before the 9-month faculty and students leave campus,” Weatherford said. “We are on a very tight timeline.”

Only the search committee will be allowed to choose candidates. Blackboard will host all the applications and the selection will be cut down to a top 10 to interview through Skype.

After the top 10 are selected the search team committee will lower the selection to three to six candidates. This group will be invited to campus and conduct meetings to interact with students, faculty, and staff.

The final process consists of the search committee recommending the top three candidates to the provost and president of FAMU, who ultimately choose.

Comments from other members of the search committee were deferred to Weatherford. He told the committee that they are not allowed to speak with any media personnel about the dean search process.

“The strong recommendation is that if you are contacted by the press, that you refer the press to me, I will only answer procedural questions, absolutely no questions about the candidates,” Weatherford said. “We want to have a unified message and avoid any potential legal liabilities.”

He also spoke about the Dyson Pharmacy building possibly joining the College of Science and Technology.

The next search committee meeting will be held on Friday, Feb. 16 at the Foote-Hilyer Administration Center in room 301 at 1 p.m.