The Meadows School of the Arts dean search committee has progressed, narrowing its list of candidates down to a small number.
In the fall semester, the committee sought out candidates and generated a list, which named well over 100 people from both genders and diverse ethnic backgrounds, according to search director Hal Williams, who is the dean of research and graduate students and who also lead the provost search last year.
“We have some very talented people interested in becoming the next dean, which is a compliment to the reputation of the faculty, staff and students of the Meadows School,” Williams said, adding, “The Meadows school is a gem. It’s one of our prized possessions, and you can see that in the people who would love to come here and leave their school.”
On Jan. 27, the committee spent several hours narrowing the list to include a small number of candidates.
The search committee is comprised of 16 members: one graduate student, three Dallas community members, 12 Meadows faculty members who each represent an area of the school and Williams.
At this point in the search, Williams said he would not disclose any names to the public.
In mid-February, the committee will be conducting a series of confidential interviews over two weekends with the candidates it has chosen. The interviews will last approximately two hours per candidate and will take place in a hotel close to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to Williams.
After private interviews end, the committee will choose three candidates and invite them to conduct three-to-four-day public interviews at SMU with several campus groups. According to Williams, the format will be similar to when the three provosts candidates came to campus last spring.
During the public interviews, the provost candidates gave speeches, answered questions and ate meals with Faculty Senate, Student Senate, President R. Gerald Turner, members of the SMU Board of Trustees and other campus leaders.
“If the current schedule holds, we could have a dean named by spring break,” Williams said.
Meadows Dean Dr. Carole Brandt announced her retirement on Aug. 15, 2005. Brandt has served as dean of Meadows since 1994 and was the first woman to be named dean of a school in SMU history. She will retire at the end of the 2005-2006 school year. Williams said the new dean will probably take office some time in mid-summer.
