The search committee charged with finding Ohio University Southern Campus’s new dean will have a short list of potential candidates later this month.

Saturday, August 12, 2000

The search committee charged with finding Ohio University Southern Campus’s new dean will have a short list of potential candidates later this month.

And the key to choosing one lies in interviews with the 12-member committee, chairperson Dr. Rebecca McNeer said.

"We have to ask the right kind of questions to find the kind of person we want at this campus," Dr. McNeer said.

To accomplish that, the committee is compiling a list. For example, one member wants to ask candidates what kind of teams they have built in the past, because deans need to work well in teams, she said.

The committee would also like to hear from the community on questions they have in mind, Dr. McNeer said.

"What I’ve been asking people to do is form questions we could use in interviews," she said.

That way, the committee could get the community, alumni and others interested in helping search for their new dean, she added.

Charles Plakaros, 52, of Ironton, said he would ask what the candidate can bring to the table for the university’s clients.

Plakaros is an OUSC student working on his bachelor’s degree in organizational communications.

"If you’re out on the campus and a student comes up to you to address a problem, are you going to talk to that student?" he asked.

In other words, will the new dean be as involved with students every day in much the same way the former dean was, Plakaros asked.

The new dean must also fill some big shoes and meet community expectations while balancing that with his own agenda, he added.

"How will he accomplish that?"

Debbie Redman and Karen Howell, who have worked in the healthcare field, would ask a new dean about new degree programs.

Because medical professions are attracting many people to higher education, what would the new dean do to expand medical degree programs, specifically night classes and classes leading to bachelor’s degrees, they asked.

It might be interesting to see why candidates are choosing to apply at the Ironton branch campus, said Mark Potter, who works for the Ohio Safe foster care network in South Point.

"What do you have to offer the university but also what reason do you have coming to an area that obviously has economic issues?"

Former Ironton Area Kiwanis Club president Mike Stautberg also has economic questions to ask a new dean.

"How would you help the university remain involved not only with the community but economic development, because universities are important to all industry?"

The decision-making process for choosing OUSC’s new dean started in March, shortly after Dr. Bill Dingus announced his retirement.

The committee’s goal is to start interviewing by the end of the month and conclude interviews in September with a recommendation. Afterward, Ohio University’s president of regional education, Dr. Charles Bird, and other OU officials will make the final decision.