College Dean Edward L. Ayers announced his reorganization of the College administration at the Board of Visitors meeting in late January.
Ayers created two new positions, associate dean for the sciences and associate dean for the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Ayers also redefined the role of associate dean for graduate education, giving that administrator jurisdiction over research at the College.
The positions of associate dean for administration, associate dean for personnel and associate dean for enrolled students in the graduate school all will be eliminated.
Ayers "is redesigning the administration more along the lines of [academic] discipline," said Peter Brunjes, a psychology professor and the new associate dean for graduate education..
The changes bring the University in line with the way most colleges are organized, with "area deans" for the sciences and the other disciplines, Ayers said.
Environmental Science Prof. George Hornberger will be the new associate dean for the sciences. Karen Ryan, professor of Slavic languages and literatures, will become associate dean for the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Brunjes will fill the redefined position of associate dean for graduate programs and research.
All three are set to begin their new jobs in June and will serve three-year terms.
Two "area deans" would be able to respond more efficiently to departmental needs than the College dean could alone, Ayers said.
"I think there's a distinct advantage, for example, to having a department chairman in the sciences talking with a scientist serving as associate dean about questions relating to, say, funds for a lab start-up," Ayers said.
Departmental chairs expressed enthusiasm about the change.
"I think to be the Dean of Arts and Sciences as it is currently is a pretty much impossible job," Physics Department Chairman Tom Gallagher said. "If the dean is supposed to be out on the road [raising money], to take care of the actual administrative duties requires him to be pretty much superhuman."
Science departments face problems very different from those faced by other departments, Gallagher said.
"I think it's an excellent idea," English Department Chairman Michael Levenson said. "It's very useful to have someone in contact with the department chairs, to know the life of the department well, so the dean doesn't have to be involved in day-to-day management decisions."
Ryan and Hornberger will be responsible for day-to-day resource allocation and management for their respective departments, according to a University press release.
Ryan said one of her goals for her new position is to increase diversity.
"I have the chance now to really focus on what has really been the strength of the College, and that has been the departments that make up the liberal arts," Ryan said.
Brunjes outlined several goals he wants to achieve as associate dean for graduate education and research.
"We need to support graduate students better" financially, he added.
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