COLUMN: Three deans wanted. What's taking so long?

From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99 From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99Help Wanted: Highly regarded university is looking for anyone who can run an efficient search committee. Penn students who expected to return to campus this fall and be greeted by a host of new University leaders are in for a shock: Of the three major dean searches -- for the Wharton, Law and Engineering schools, all underway for at least 10 months -- not one has been completed. When deans Colin Diver of the Law School and Thomas Gerrity of the Wharton School announced plans last fall to step down July 1, both said they hoped their announcements had given the University time to find replacements to immediately step into their vacated positions. Now, there are more empty seats in Gerrity's old office -- one -- than in any of the highly desirable Wharton undergraduate finance classes. With top administrators coming and going with greater frequency -- Diver and Gerrity's decade-long stays were considered lengthy -- there is no sense in spending a year searching for a replacement. Law School search committee chairperson and Wharton undergraduate dean Richard Herring agreed, telling The Daily Pennsylvanian last January, "Everybody wants to do this as quickly as possible." Sorry, quickly was over July 1. So why does it take so damn long to replace any resignation-wielding University administrator? Penn speaks of the need to conduct a comprehensive search because of the importance of the position. "This is the premier law dean opening in the country at this time," committee member and Law Professor Robert Gorman told the DP in January. Premier, maybe. But while some candidates are certainly better than others, no dean under the present musical chairs system of University administration is going to revolutionize the position, so to get nit-picky over the selection seems like a waste of time. In addition, apparently not every potential candidate is sitting by the phone praying to be invited to take a job that involves tedious and perpetual fundraising, among other unglorious tasks. Gary Hack, dean of the Graduate School of Fine Arts and head of the Wharton search, called his initial timetable "overly ambitious" and Herring told the DP over the summer that his committee had interviewed scores of candidates but that some had removed themselves from the search process due to a lack of interest in the job. Thus, Penn may be the victim of a simple lack of interest, although it is difficult to say for sure due to the paucity of information released to the public. Nevertheless, scores of well-qualified candidates who would like the job must remain. And the University isn't flying blind. In addition to having a wealth of experience at searching for candidates, given the continual flow of deans toward the "Exit" sign, the University contracts with head-hunting firms (they prefer the title "executive search firms," but whatever) to help in the "nationwide" and "exhaustive" search processes. The firm of Spencer Stuart is currently working on the Wharton School search. According to Bill Bowen, a vice chairperson at Heidrick & Struggles, which aided the provost search last year, presidential searches at major universities average six months, while dean and provost searches are usually shorter. Penn, to its discredit, went out and showed that it could perform well above standards by lingering a year over the provost decision. Now it is upping its formidable standard once again by lollygagging over not just one, but three, major appointments. Selecting interim deans, as was done by Engineering and Wharton this year and by the University during its provost search, is not a positive step in any manner. It is impossible for an interim dean to establish any vision or program for a school when the position may come to an abrupt end at any moment. Through no fault of their own, the interim deans are basically resigned to being seat warmers and paper pushers. Maybe Penn needs a dean of search committees. The job would entail constantly interviewing qualified administrators from around the country for unspecified positions. Then, when a position opened up at Penn, the better candidates could be plugged into a streamlined process for the specific opening. Given the present rate of turnover, there would certainly be no shortage of work for this dean. Then again, hiring this new dean would require a search committee, so forget I brought it up.