New faces in Dean’s Office
Along with 650 new students, three new administrators have arrived in the Dean of the College’s Office. “Oberlin was actually my first choice for college,” says the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Harry Hirsch. “I’ve always thought of Oberlin as an exceptional place, with a history of which we should be very proud — altogether one of the very best American liberal arts colleges. I think there’s an intellectual seriousness here that one finds very few places.” There are also two new associate deans of the College, but both are familiar faces. Former professor of psychology Patty deWinstanley and former chair of the English department Nick Jones have given up their teaching positions to become full-time administrators. “I hope to teach again but for the time I’m in this office it probably won’t happen,” says Jones. “I took the job because it seemed like a really important time in the life of the College. I wanted to support it and learn how the College works across the curriculum. I want to extend beyond the English department.” “That was the hardest part of the decision process: to leave the teaching part of things,” says deWinstanley. “Although, I will be team-teaching ‘Educational Psychology’ in the spring,” she continued. “The decision was made relatively late in the summer. I was going to be on sabbatical in the fall so that wasn’t an issue. But there was no one to cover me in the second semester. I’m also still supervising student research.” The decision is not without precedent. Both new deans have had experience on the business end of things. “I served last year on the Educational Programs and Plans Committee as the elected faculty representative, which was great exposure to the predecessor in this office, Grover Zinn,” says Jones. “I’ll be sitting on this committee again. As the dean of the English department, I also worked on this side of the fence, doing lots of work with hiring, tenure, staff promotions, etc.” “And [deWinstanley] has been chair of the Center for Excellence in Teaching for four years and knows a great deal about pedagogical issues in general,” says Hirsch. “I was seeking people with knowledge about areas of the curriculum different from my own area of expertise: the humanities and the natural sciences. I think both of them bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Dean’s Office. I am very happy that they both agreed to do this.” New deans will inevitably mean a new role for the office, new challenges and new attitudes. “I’m the ‘business’ dean of the two,” says deWinstanley. “[Jones], generally speaking, looks at the curricular end of things. There’s not a lot of news coming out of this office right now. We’re all new and trying to figure out for sure what our respective roles will be.” But Hirsch already has some concerns he wants to address. “Right now I’m quite concerned with the number of courses with long waiting lists,” says Hirsch. “We’re doing what we can to solve the problem in the short run and plan for the future so that the problem doesn’t reoccur.” Hirsch also has a more general vision for the office’s role in the College. “I think it’s the responsibility of the Dean’s office to look at the big picture — how the various parts fit together — and also to make sure that the members of the faculty have the tools they need to do their job the best that they can. “It’s a little daunting, given how much I need to learn, and I hope people will be a bit patient with me while I figure out how things work. “I’m very happy to be here,” Hirsch concludes.
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