Search committee chairman and Executive Vice Provost Ronald Strauss said the University has just begun to advertise the position, but has been collecting names of potential candidates from faculty members.
“It depends what you’d call a lot of applicants — we’ve got a lot of names,” Strauss said.
The committee will hold preliminary interviews of applicants in mid-June. The first round of screenings will be completed by mid-July, after which Strauss hopes to narrow the search to five finalists.
The search committee’s 15 members come from within the University, including department chairs, administrators and two students.
UNC hired national search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to help identify candidates.
“I trust them, but I don’t believe that you should hand the search over to an outside entity,” Strauss said. “I do think the campus needs a direct, frequent interface with the search firm.”
Strauss said he holds forums with College of Arts and Sciences department chairs and encourages search committee members to hear what faculty members are looking for in the new dean.
“It’s important that they want to talk about it even before names are really brought up — that our faculty and our administrators are involved in this process are engaged,” he said.
