The Salisbury University campus will welcome the four candidates seeking the position of dean of the Honors College throughout the next two weeks.
Chair of the Search Committee, Dr. Clifton Griffin, who also serves as dean of Graduate Studies and Research, sent out a school-wide email announcing open session dates for each candidate. Students are greatly encouraged to attend these sessions, take in each candidate presentation and also provide feedback.
Griffin acknowledged the importance of campus input during a process like this, which is why these open session are being made available.
This search takes place as SU is seeking to find a replacement for Dr. James Buss, who announced his transition to Northern Kentucky University.
The candidates:
Dr. Laurence Carlin–Dean of the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and professor of philosophy.
Carlin, a graduate of Rice University, has seen a similar experience as Buss at SU, bringing the Honors Program up to a college in 2016. He joined the staff of UW Oshkosh in 2000 and later stepped into a role with the Honors Program in 2012.
His open session is today, April 17 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in Conway Hall TETC, room 153.
Dr. Kevin Gustafson–Interim dean of the Honors College at the University of Texas at Arlington and associate professor of English.
Gustafson has been a member of the UT Arlington staff since 1999, having since served as the chair of English for Graduate Studies and the director of the Center for Service Learning. The experience with UTA’s Honors College began in 2008 as the associate dean.
In 2016, Gustafson was named interim dean of the Honors College. While each candidate comes from universities that has a larger student population than SU, Gustafson is one of the two that largely outnumber the student presence in Salisbury.
UTA boasted a total enrollment number of more than 39,000 in 2016.
Gustafson’s open session will be held on Thursday, April 19 form 2:30-3:30 p.m. in Conway Hall TETC, room 153.
Dr. David Coleman–Interim director of the Honors Program at Eastern Kentucky University and professor of history.
Coleman was immersed almost instantly in the Honors Program at EKU, joining the faculty in 1998 and later the program in 1999.
He was named interim director of the program in 2013 and has maintained the role ever since. Coleman is one of two candidates that could potentially be coming from a previous university that had an Honors Program as opposed to a college.
Coleman’s open session at SU will be on April 24 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Conway Hall TETC, room 153.
Dr. Andrew Martino–Director of the Honors Program at Southern New Hampshire University and professor of English.
Martino holds his position at the largest of the four candidates’ universities, SNHU recorded a total enrollment of around 63,000 in 2016. SNHU is also the second university out of these four candidates that has an Honors Program.
Martino has been at SNHU since 2005 and despite the vast student population, has maintained an interactive reputation sponsoring various on-campus organizations while also staying in the classroom.
The open session for Martino will be the last of four, taking place on April 26 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Perdue Hall, Room 251.
Each of the candidates will be given the opportunity to respond to some generic questions as a part of their presentation. Those questions include assessing the role of honors education in today’s secondary education climate as well as the more specific purpose at SU.
The future dean of the Honors College will be another new key member in the SU community, joining Dr. Charles Wight as the next president at SU.
By CHASE GORSKI
News editor