ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605130028
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
A final page in one of the Virginia Tech school year's most difficult chapters may turn next month, when the university selects a new dean to take over the newly merged College of Human Resources and Education.
Four finalists have interviewed for the job, a product of President Paul Torgersen's abrupt first semester decision to dismantle Tech's 25-year-old College of Education. But some say now that the dean's search has served as a rallying point for the merger, helping bruised professors, administrators and students see the situation through fresh lenses.
"The candidates that came, every one of them, talked about the relationship between the two colleges and how there were a great many opportunities that could be realized from this merger," said search committee Chairwoman Patricia Edwards.
"They all talked about the focus both colleges have on the family and community. Anybody who comes in ... would probably, the way [the candidates] spoke about this, have that kind of focus that would allow them to develop linkages between these two colleges," said Edwards, dean of Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies.
Peggy Meszaros, Tech's provost, said she will meet with the search committee in the next few weeks to discuss their assessments. Meszaros said she then will confer with Torgersen as she selects the new dean in June for an appointment starting July 1.
Of the four candidates who rose to the top, two are human resources experts, and two are education experts. The only internal candidate is College of Human Resources interim Dean Janet Johnson.
Johnson has been at Virginia Tech since 1976, when she served as a part-time assistant professor in the department of human nutrition and foods. She earned both her master's and doctorate at Cornell University, and has held a range of positions at Tech.
While Tech professors interviewed said there seems to be no preference between an internal or external candidate, "it's been interesting to hear" the outsiders' thoughts on the merger, search committee member Julia Beamish said.
Those candidates include:
* Charles McClintock, associate dean of Cornell University's College of Human Ecology, who has spent the bulk of his 25-year career in higher education at that school. He started as an instructor at the State University of New York in Buffalo, and took a side trip to Stanford University in 1982 to teach as a visiting associate professor in that university's School of Education.
* Richard L. Schwab, dean of the School of Education at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, also spent 10 years as an assistant and associate professor of education at the University of New Hampshire.
* H. Wells Singleton, dean of Ohio University's College of Education, also has taught curriculum and instruction at the University of Wyoming and the University of Toledo. He came to Ohio in 1990 after working as Wyoming's associate dean of teacher education.
In November, Torgersen announced the demise of the College of Education, saying he wanted to save money and see the college's expertise spread more broadly throughout the university. An outcry that emanated from as far away as the offices of the region's schools superintendents followed, but Torgersen prevailed.
In July, the paper merger will be complete, although the two programs will continue to operate separately next year as details are hammered out. The education college's interim dean, Wayne Worner, already had taken an internal early retirement deal when the merger began. The College of Human Resources was operating under interim Dean Johnson because its former head, Meszaros, had become Tech's provost.
"I think the way this whole thing came about will always be a sore spot, but I think people are looking ahead now and fully expect this to be a successful merger," education professor Terry Wildman said.
"I think the faculty is looking forward to getting, from the pool of applicants we have, someone who will be successful."
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB