In the search for a new dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (LAS), UCCS hosted four candidate finalists for the position.
The four finalists were hosted during the week of April 21 via public forum. One of the candidates, Constance Staley, is serving as the interim dean of the College of LAS until the position is filled. According to CU Careers, the salary range is between $170,000 – $240,000 annually.
The search committee tasked with choosing the dean is made of faculty from departments across campus, with Co-Chairs Susan Taylor, vice provost and associate vice chancellor for undergraduate education and academic planning, and Regina Winters, associate dean of the College of Public Service.
Constance Staley
Staley was hosted by the committee on April 21.
Staley is serving as the interim dean of the College of LAS. She has taught at UCCS in the Department of Communication since 1991.
She won the University of Colorado Outstanding Teacher Award in 1998 and was nominated twice for the CASE U.S. Professor of the Year Award. She has published 22 books and is a keynote speaker.
Staley emphasized the importance of focusing support on first-year students and says that Gateway Program Seminar classes, which every first-year student is required to take, are important to increasing retention.
“First year seminar programs have retention effects because students in the course become in touch with each other and will stay in touch by the end of it. That kind of intimacy is a great way to begin a college career,” she said.
Staley said that interdisciplinary learning is essential to a student’s experience. She said that when students learn cross-departmentally, whether that be from teachers collaborating between departments or taking courses from professors outside of their own departments, they absorb a diverse blend of ideas, which enhances their learning experience.
Bret Amundson
Amundson was hosted by the committee on April 22.
Amundson serves as the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the College of Saint Scholastica (CSS) in Duluth, Minnesota. He served as dean of the School of Arts and Letters, Director of General Education and Director of the First Year Program prior to this position. At CSS, he has facilitated the launch of a new general education program, new interdisciplinary programs and the development of dual-degree pathways.
Amundson said that liberal arts education focuses on what it means to be a human and that it is the foundation of UCCS’ compass curriculum. “The highest purpose of liberal education is to enable students to recognize their superpower and utilize it to build better human communities locally, nationally and globally. UCCS engages in this work exceptionally well, which is why this position excites me.”
Amundson presented his strategic initiatives for the College of LAS, which include interdisciplinary innovation, such as a social media minor partnered between the communication, marketing and TCID programs, or a health humanities track, which would offer a humanistic perspective for future healthcare practitioners.
Christopher Moore
Moore was hosted by the committee on April 23.
Moore is the Dr. George F. Haddix Community Chair of Physical Science and a professor of physics at the University of Nebraska, Omaha (UNO). At UNO, he has secured $9.8 million in funding to support faculty-led research and regional workforce development.
Moore said that recruitment rates are going down, which is causing national budget cuts at higher educational institutions.
“Within our University of Nebraska system, they are cutting around two dozen faculty positions, and you can see headlines like this going around the country,” he said. “[This year] is the year that we expect the number of traditionally aged, 18-year-old college students to decrease.”
Moore said his vision for the position is to first collaborate with the rest of the department to understand what they all want, then, to integrate apprenticeship and innovation, increasing identity and social capital.
Amy Adamson
Adamson was hosted by the committee on April 24.
Adamson is the interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where she has been a faculty member since 2000. As interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Adamson says she has facilitated the hiring of new faculty and departmental heads.
Adamson’s strategic plan includes learning and belonging, retention and graduation, research and creative excellence, partnerships and fundraising, and financial sustainability. She said these initiatives fit into the college of LAS’ goals.
“I am a proponent of inclusive excellence, liberal arts, collaboration, hearing everybody’s opinion, being proactive, trying to get ahead of things to stay on track, recognizing and celebrating and, of course, leading by example.”
The search committee is collecting feedback on the four finalists.
Archive photo by Lillian Davis.