After nearly a year of searching for a new dean of students the Institute named Mark Smith to the post on Tuesday. Smith, who served as interim dean of students since March, was widely speculated as the leading candidate for the position after the dean of students search committee closed it’s search in December.
“Clearly, Mark Smith was head and shoulders above other candidates competing for the dean of students position,” said Eddie Ade Knowles, vice president for student life at Rensselaer.
Over the previous year the search committee weeded through applicants seeking to be one of the focal administrative representative of student interests.
As the search committee worked toward its final recommendation, they held a series of on-campus panel interviews. Professor Mike Hanna, search committee chair, revealed that the panels were not composed of the same student groups or the same representatives. He added that a wide range of groups from the the Resident Hall Association to the deapartment of Public Safety were included the panel process.
By composing different panels for each finalist, the committee was attempting to discover how each candidate would handle the day-to-day tasks associated with being dean of students. “[The panel process] also produced questions for the finalists that we might not have otherwise asked,” said Hanna.
The final candidates also met with groups outside of the student life department and student groups including the deans of the five academic schools at RPI. Following each interview, panelists and the other interviewers completed an anonymous survey evaluating the candidate and the search process. Information from these surveys were then pooled to rate each finalist.
Grand Marshal Gil Valadez, search committee member, felt that the committee worked together well and ultimately chose the best candidate for Rensselaer. Valadez believes that Smith possesses great people skills and has a strong understanding of administrative responsibilities.
“Mark Smith is the quintessential student-focused administrator. Anyone who has worked with Mark or even just had the pleasure to talk with him knows he is sincere and compassionate and truly cares about students,” said Valadez. “I have personally seen him give up evenings on a weekly basis to work with students, and I am excited that he has been named dean of students.”
Since the search committee recommended Smith to Vice President Knowles in December, upper levels of the RPI administration made final calls to all the finalists and reassessed the strengths and weaknesses of each before coming to a consensus on Smith.
“The search committee, President Shirley Ann Jackson, and I all concur that Mark is well-suited to provide leadership for the Dean of Students Office to ensure that all of our students are well-served,” said Knowles.
