Update: This story was updated at 12 p.m. on Oct. 27 to add an announcement from OU about a new Honors College interim dean that was announced the morning of Oct. 27 after the publication of this story the day prior.
OU shared the description and qualifications for the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication dean position, which was left open when former Dean Ed Kelley retired at the end of June.
The position announcement, which was shared to Gaylord College faculty and staff by interim Gaylord Dean David Craig from Price College of Business dean and search committee chair Corey Phelps, described the ideal next dean of Gaylord as “visionary, politically astute and committed to public service and inclusive excellence.”
The qualifications as detailed in the position description included that the next dean would need proven experience with leading an organization or institution and must have a record that would qualify them for the rank of professor.
Qualifications as specified by the position description:
• A proven, effective, transformational leader who can be a champion for the college.
• Ability to spearhead and articulate a shared vision and leadership role for the college.
• Demonstrated fiscal responsibility, budget management, strategic planning skills and fundraising success.
• Ability to facilitate recruitment and development of exceptional faculty, staff and students.
• Promote multidisciplinary research and teaching, including experience cultivating innovative scholarship and creative activity.
• Commitment to a collaborative approach to faculty and staff governance and decision-making and creating an environment that promotes and rewards excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.
•Ability to act as an advocate for the college at local, state and national levels.
•An understanding of and commitment to journalism and communication education.
• Commitment to the mission of Gaylord College and the university.
• Ability to build strong relationships and industry leaders and alumni in Oklahoma, across the country and worldwide.
Responsibilities as specified by the position description:
• Provide intellectual and administrative leadership, guiding the college in its commitment to innovative and relevant education for current and future students.
• Consulting with and empowering faculty to revise and develop curricula.
• Maintain high standards of teaching, research, creative activity and service.
• Manage the college’s budget.
• Recruit faculty.
• Lead other faculty in personnel matters, including tenure, promotion and renewal.
• Advocate for the college at the university level.
• Lead fundraising efforts for the college in partnership with the OU Foundation.
• Oversee all academic programs, college governance, review process for hiring faculty and staff and strategic planning and implementation.
• Implement all university and state procedures and policies.
• Represent the college to university senior administration.
The description read that a Ph.D. is preferred. Kelley did not have a doctorate, but his predecessor as dean, Joe Foote, did.
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. told OU Daily on Oct. 16 that he doesn’t think the university will be able to find another leader like Kelley.
“In terms of the quality of talent we're looking for, the most recent one we announced was Ed Kelley and I'm not sure how we're ever going to find someone like him,” Harroz said.
When Kelley, who spent 36 years at The Oklahoman, was editor of The Washington Times and later senior contributing editor at Deseret News announced his impending departure, he said he thinks Gaylord College needs a young dean and innovative dean to serve the constantly changing media environment.
OU hired Greenwood Asher & Associates, a higher education executive search, coaching and consulting firm based in Florida, to assist with the Gaylord dean search.
Two consultants from Greenwood Asher & Associates met with Gaylord students, faculty and staff last week to discuss what the college is specifically looking for in a dean and what the dean needs to know about Gaylord and OU.
Many faculty members expressed favor that the dean candidate would have professional experience over academic experience, more specifically many suggested that this experience be in the journalism space seeing as Gaylord is one of the leading journalism schools in the country.
Other faculty and staff said that Gaylord College needs donations and its new dean to have strong fundraising capabilities. Faculty and staff did not give specifics to what areas would need that immediate funding.
André-Denis Wright, senior vice president and provost for OU, met with Gaylord College faculty in September about the search for the college’s next dean, especially as some faculty members expressed opposition to the makeup of the search committee approved by the OU Board of Regents in September.
Wright told OU Daily following the meeting that the search committee was made following the OU faculty handbook, and that the concern from faculty and staff is more of a lack of awareness for the process.
“I think the concern that comes through is that they've never done a search before,” Wright told OU Daily. “So while this is normal and we do searches for deans and for chairs and for faculty across the campus, this is not what they've been privy to. My role here was to explain to them the process and how that works and to remind them that the search committee is not the decision making body.”
The search committee, chaired by Phelps, includes Gaylord College Professor Robert Kerr, Associate Professor Doyle Yoon, Assistant Professor Erin Kökdil, Associate Professor Jensen Moore, Senior Academic Adviser Joshua Kahoe, Director of Student Services Kathy Sawyer and member of the board of visitors for the college Roger Frizzell.
Two students within the college, graduate student Alex Eschbach and public relations senior Acacia McDonald, are on the committee. Outside of the college, Associate Professor in the department of communication John Banas, Classics and Letters professor Daniela Garofalo, executive director of advancement for the OU Foundation Emily Reed and senior program officer at the Inasmuch Foundation Tyler Tokarczyk also joined the committee.
Wright said the search committee goes through the applications and makes recommendations on who the university should bring to campus and consider more closely, but does not make final say on who will be the college’s next dean.
Wright said once finalists have been picked, they will be invited and visit campus and all facets of the campus and college: faculty, staff, students, Gaylord College’s Board of Visitors, Harroz and the provost’s office. Wright said he and Harroz will discuss comments, recommendations and concerns to make their final decision, which is ultimately forwarded to the OU Board of Regents.
Wright said the search will have a decent level of confidentiality, meaning that the nominations and the candidates who applied will not be made public. Wright said the finalists will be made public, and he hopes these finalists will be announced sometime in the spring.
Harroz told OU Daily on Oct. 16 that the university is still seeking to become a member of the Association of American Universities. He said that achieving this status will factor into the decision making process for Gaylord College’s next dean.
Out of the 16 deans on Norman’s campus, six are currently interim or acting deans and a seventh, College of Law Dean Katheleen Guzman, announced her intent to step down at the end of the academic year on Oct. 9.
Scott Fritzen, former dean of the David L. Boren College of International Studies, announced in June that he would be stepping down to take a job as president of Fulbright University Vietnam.
Mike Stice, former dean of Mewbourne College of Earth of Energy, stepped down from his role last November, according to the November OU Board of Regents meeting minutes.
Nicole Campbell stepped down from her role as dean of University College in August 2022 to focus on teaching and scholarship, according to a letter from Wright.
Doug Gaffin replaced David Ray as Honors College dean in 2017. Gaffin served as interim dean until July 2020, and Rich Hamerla succeeded him as interim dean.
OU announced Friday morning that Kelvin White, associate professor of information studies and senior associate dean for faculty and community in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, will succeed Hamerla as the next interim dean of the college, making White the third interim dean since Ray left in 2017.
Martha Banz stepped down as the dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies in December 2022.
“We know that it’s a multi-year effort to get to AAU-status,” Harroz told OU Daily. “But we’re only going to get there if we have the talented faculty and staff that allow us to reach that level and so it factors directly into it.”
Achieving AAU status was mentioned most recently in September 2021 when OU and the University of Texas at Austin accepted an invitation to join the Southeastern Conference.
Harroz said then that the university does want to reach that status and that is a goal, and he said moving to the SEC would help that goal. When OU and Texas join the SEC in 2024, Texas will be the fifth AAU university in the conference next to Vanderbilt, the University of Missouri, Texas A&M and University of Florida.
According to the AAU membership policies, the organization has two phases of evaluating the possibility of a university’s members. The first phase is divided into four criteria: competitively funded research support, membership in national academics, faculty awards and fellowships and research citations.
The second phase is divided into three indicators: USDA, state and industrial research funding, doctoral education and number of doctoral appointees.
The Gaylord dean position description encouraged inquiries, nominations and application materials to be sent to the consultants at Greenwood Asher & Associates.
OU Daily has requested from the university the contracts with Greenwood Asher & Associates and other higher education search consultants assisting with the dean searches.
Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
