A number of high profile searches are currently in order to fill a number of soon-to-be vacant faculty positions such as the dean of Humanities & Social Sciences and the IT Constellation. Committees have been formed and they were given a set of guidelines and tools by Human Resources, which will be used to sift through and select the best candidates for the position. But first the committee must define the position for themselves in order to develop a set of primary criteria to screen applicants.
The search for dean of Humanities & Social Sciences has been going on since last October. Gary Gabriele, the committee chair for the of dean of H&SS search, said that a good dean should have prior academic administrative experience, understand Humanities & Social Sciences, and be able to interface interdisciplinary opportunities.
Gabriele went on to say that someone who sees how the school has been changing over the past five years would be ideal for the position. The new dean must understand that most of the students are pursuing dual degrees, and that they have interest in expanding their focus outside of the traditional humanities and social science disciplines.
Students are highly important to the search process because the chosen applicant will directly affect them. Committee members are currently working with faculty in order to form the student groups that will be influential in the recommendation process, said Gabriele.
Currently, the committee is in the applicant screening process. By March or April Gabriele plans to host the two-day on-campus visits and interviews for candidates. The committee would like to have a dean set into place before the start of the coming fall semester.
The IT Constellation search process has been underway since last spring with a focus on three areas: future chips, tetherless and pervasive computing, and multi-scale computation, explained Joseph Flaherty, IT Constellation search committee chair.
Overall, the search committee is looking to fill nine positions: three senior professors (one per area of specialization) and six junior professors (two per area of specialization). However, the focus is currently on the senior professorships because, once found, they will in turn be able to help examine those applying for junior professorships. Flaherty said that the committee would like to have at least one of the senior professors in place by this spring.
Student groups for the interview process will be chosen depending on the individual interest and academic work of the students.
However, the search committee is not looking at any internal candidates. Instead they are looking for fresh eyes to help install the program from the ground up. Ideally, these people would not have the biases that current RPI faculty have about procedures and innovations, said Flaherty.
Outstanding accomplishments in science, scholarship, leadership and vision, and fit to RPI are just some of the qualities that will embody an IT Constellation senior professor, added Flaherty.
Some candidates have already been to campus for the two-day interviewing process.
Although the searches are for different schools, the actual search process, in which the human resources division plays a major role, is very similar. After the committees have completed their scrutiny of the applicants and found those who they believe will best serve the Rensselaer community they will make a recommendation to President Jackson who, along with the provost, will make the final decision.
