Dean of students office is important, give input on candidates
With the upcoming retirement of longtime Dean of Students Bruce Pitman, the University of Idaho announced four prospective replacements Friday.
All four will make a personal appearance on UI’s campus over the next two weeks to give presentations, answer questions and make a pitch for the job.
These sessions are a great opportunity for students to get initial impressions of the candidates and to ask questions about their leadership style and vision for the position.
Whoever is chosen will have big shoes to fill. Pitman has served UI for 41 years.
Over the decades, Pitman has become a campus legend, and created strong relationships with students and staff. He has been an advocate for student rights, a protector of the student voice and the man many students and university employees turn to in times of tragedy. There’s no doubt it will be a different university when he retires, and these are qualities we can only hope his replacement will also embody.
There’s no doubt the search committee did their homework in selecting the candidates for Pitman’s replacement, but even so it won’t be an easy task.
The series of presentations will begin with Jeffrey Long, assistant vice president for Student Affairs at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, who will make his pitch from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the Vandal Ballroom in the Student Union Building. The dean of students is no small position. They are the man or woman on the ground. They are the face of the university when tragedy strikes and a sympathetic ear for student concerns.
The dean of students must be a fierce advocate for students and a commanding administrator. They oversee a wide umbrella of student-based departments and programs, including University Housing, Student Involvement and the Counseling and Testing Center — just to name a few.
The policy decisions that come from the Dean of Students Office affect UI students everyday, which is why students should treat these interviews with a sense of importance and attend them.
–RT