Search for new SAS dean begins as U. officials select committee

The four professors whoThe four professors whowill serve on the searchThe four professors whowill serve on the searchpanel have been chosen.The four professors whowill serve on the searchpanel have been chosen.Members hope to selectThe four professors whowill serve on the searchpanel have been chosen.Members hope to selecta new dean by spring. After addressing numerous bureaucratic snags, the School of Arts and Sciences has selected four faculty members to serve on the committee to select the school's new dean. But the rest of the committee -- four other professors, two students and one Penn alum -- have not yet been selected. When SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens resigned early this semester, University President Judith Rodin said she hoped to have a committee established by the end of September. But the University Council's Committee on Committees, which chooses the members of other University committees, had not yet elected its members at the time of Stevens' resignation. "The problem we faced is that our Committee [on] Committees was just elected at the last faculty meeting on October 1," said Janine Sternlieb, assistant to the dean. "It's an extremely important committee and needs to be established before selection," she added. Once the committee selected the four professors, the list was sent to SAS faculty for approval. That balloting ended Monday. The selected faculty now have to wait for the rest of the committee to be selected before beginning discussions. Although College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Rescorla said he believes the search will look both within and outside the University, new committee member and Sociology Professor Douglas Massey said he thinks even that decision should be discussed at the group's first meeting. "[I am] looking for someone to forcefully represent the school's interest to the provost and president and deans," he added. Rescorla said he hopes a new dean will be appointed this spring and fill the position as of this summer. Chemistry Professor Kent Blasie, Biology Professor Anthony Cashmore, History Professor Lynn Hunt, and Massey will make up the SAS faculty component of the committee.