Professor of Mathematics Jeff Witmer has been appointed acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the College Faculty Council announced in an e-mail to the College community this Wednesday.

Witmer will serve as acting dean until sometime next academic year, when Oberlin will conduct a search for a permanent dean under its new president.

Witmer joined Oberlin’s faculty in 1986. Since then, he has taught classes and served as the associate dean of arts and sciences and the associate provost. Additionally, he has served as a member and the chair of the Oberlin Board of Education.

Witmer gained experience working in the administration during interim periods.

“Dean Witmer served as acting dean for the ‘04-05 academic year, and we came to respect his judgment and effectiveness,” wrote the CFC in its letter to the Oberlin College community. The CFC added later in the letter, “We value [Witmer’s] broad expertise and commitment to the Oberlin community, and are grateful to him for being willing to assume the many responsibilities of being the College’s acting dean.”

The College Faculty selected the CFC as the committee in charge of working with President Dye to appoint an acting dean.

Due to the confidential nature of the committee, members could not comment further on the appointment.

President Nancy Dye and Interim Dean Al MacKay also could not be reached for comment.

Witmer is familiar with assuming administrative responsibility: When he moved from serving as associate dean to acting dean, the College was working on formulating the Strategic Plan.

“[That] involved quite a few extra meetings,” he said. “This time around I’ll be starting with a better understanding of the job — although I was on leave last year, so I’ll need to rely on the staff in the office to fill me in on quite a few things.”

Witmer said he thought his primary responsibility would be to support the faculty.

“The College is entering a transition period,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean that faculty need to put their professional lives on hold.”

Witmer recognized the need to address recent faculty discontent: “Right now the faculty are uneasy about the state of affairs at Oberlin, which is certainly understandable, given how the year has begun,” he said. “I hope that we in the dean’s office can assure faculty that their work at the department or program level, and as individuals, can move ahead smoothly despite changes in Cox.”

He added, “My goal is to help the faculty do more than just get through the year, but to continue their forward progress.”

Witmer said another main goal would be to improve the relationship between faculty and trustees, which he characterized as being strained recently.

“As Oberlin selects a new president, it will be important that the trustees hear what the faculty have to say […],” he said, emphasizing the need for clear communication. “One cannot expect total agreement, but one can hope for mutual understanding.”

Witmer said that the most difficult aspect of his decision to return to the dean’s office is leaving the two classes he is teaching this semester.

“I have two great groups of students and the first couple of weeks of the semester have been a joy,” he said. Witmer added that the classes will not be cancelled — the College is looking to find someone to take over the classes right now. Changes may also need to be made in the mathematics department for the spring semester.

When asked what he saw to be the biggest challenges of his coming service as dean, Witmer replied, “Frankly, the dean has a lot of day-to-day responsibilities, so my biggest challenge may be to get up to speed[…]. I need to keep reminding myself that if you spend too much time on things that are urgent, you have none left to spend on the things that are important.”