Outgoing College of Liberal Arts Interim Dean Robert Holt and new dean Steven Rosenstone jointly addressed the CLA Assembly on Tuesday regarding the recent accomplishments and future goals of the college.
“The once and future dean are two different people,” therefore the address was delivered by two people, Holt said.
Rosenstone, who was appointed to the position in July and will fully assume his position Oct. 15, shared Holt’s “cautious optimism” about CLA’s direction. Rosenstone also called upon the more than 150 faculty members, staff and students who attended the assembly meeting to continue to help rebuild the college.
“I don’t think deans ought to have a monopoly on vision,” he said.
Throughout his portion of the speech, Rosenstone referred to the spirit of cooperation he has witnessed during his short time at the University. Rosenstone said he and Holt have worked to ensure the transition will be smooth.
Symbolic of the collaborative nature of the transition was the joint address on the state of the college.
Rosenstone hopes to identify the strengths of the college and apply those strengths to fund raising.
Rosenstone proposed conducting a series of conversations about which departments need to undertake new initiatives in order to improve their effectiveness.
“It is my hope that by the end of this year we will have some idea as to where we should invest and where we want to build,” Rosenstone said.
The University’s planned conversion to semesters in fall 1998 presents a unique opportunity to evaluate each department and program, Rosenstone said.
Reemphasizing research within CLA is something Rosenstone said he would like to focus on as the college looks to finding new sources of revenue.
“We simply have to get out of the mode of fighting for the crumbs and get into the mode of working together to expand the pie,” Rosenstone said. The college must learn to rely less on decreasing state aid, he added.
He described another initiative aimed at pushing undergraduate students to achieve their full inventive and intuitive potentials. Rosenstone said he will meet Thursday with a committee on curriculum, instruction and advising to discuss methods for completing this goal.
Holt said he and Rosenstone have authorized searches to fill 28 faculty positions. “We have the money in hand for all those positions,” Holt said, adding that replacing faculty members will continue to be a priority as professors retire.