At least they learned something

The recent appointment of William Stackman to the Associate Dean position - soon to be vacated by Joe DiChristina who is off to graduate school - left questions and confusion in its wake. Some students who were on the Associate Dean search committee felt their opinions hadn't been considered in the process; Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk said she made mistakes.

Apparently, Stackman was the favored candidate by a huge margin for the search committee, but Cole-Newkirk chose another candidate who later declined the position for unknown reasons. Stackman ended up in the position, but the process by which he did left the search committee wondering why their input was disregarded.

If both candidates were equally qualified, as Cole-Newkirk said, why did she choose the equally qualified candidate not recommended by the committee instead of the one almost unanimously backed? Cole-Newkirk may have made it clear that the ultimate decision was hers and hers alone, but part of respecting students is listening to and acting upon their suggestions. In this situation, something went awry.

The upside is that Cole-Newkirk says she has learned how to better organize a search. The next student occupied Dean search committee may run a little smoother than this one. We can only hope that communication will be tighter the next time around and spare hard feelings from those involved.