The Story

Last Three Dean Candidates Visit Campus

Feb. 20, 2012 | By Katelin Hill Morgan Barker Editors-in-Chief

Name: Sally Wallace
Current Position: Director, Fiscal Research Center at Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
Past Positions: Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the International University of Grand Bassam, Cote d'Ivoire; Associate Professor, Department of Economics, GSU; Department Chair, Department of Economics, GSU; Financial Economist, U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Tax Analysis
Education: BA from Williams Smith College, MA and PhD from Syracuse
Field of study: Economics
Most recent book: State and Local Tax Policy: Out of the Box?”, Sally Wallace, editor, U.K: Edward Elgar, 2010.
Challenges/opportunities/plans identified:
• Higher education nationwide is facing certain challenges:
- student placement financing model
- affordability
• Outward focus on internationalizing curriculum, student and faculty experiences; expanded civic engagement, relevance outside of academia
• Curriculum review
- buy-in and dissemination of report
- development of an implementation plan
• Review of Arts & Sciences Strategic Plan
• Increasing diversity: �"feeder schools,” linkages with discipline-based programs
• Intensify strengths of teaching, research, and collaboration of the College
Main emphasis: Internationalization: focus on unique opportunities in developing nations. Examples: art and music, environmental science.
Q&A Highlights:
Q: What do you see in the future regarding an increase in the tenure track opportunities?
A: Wallace says there is no way to increase the tenure track opportunities, however, she suggests one model used at GSU: the non-tenure track would carry voting rights in the department, and have designated targets and evaluations.
Q: On the recruitment and retention of diverse/colored faculty:
A: Diversity is important on a campus like this. It serves as a shining example to students. One of the ways most effective is to create a pipeline of minority scholars.

Name: Tracy Sharpley Whiting
Current Position: Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Distinguished Professor of French and African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University
Past Positions: Professor at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY; Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN
Education: Ph.D French Studies, Minor Area: African American Literary and Cultural Criticism from Brown University; M.A. French Literature from Miami University; B.A., cum laude, French Literature, Minor in African Economic History from University of Rochester
Most Recent Book: Bricktop’s Paris: African American Women Expatriates in Jazz Age Paris
Challenges/Opportunities Identified: Money. Money, money. Whiting was quick to identify the main problem at the College: funding. She detailed her experience raising funds and options she saw for the College. Her goals included ensuring that there was funding for hiring student researchers and increasing the affordability and access for students. How to find these funds? Whiting suggests looking to smaller private donors instead of relying solely on big donors. She says that while someone may only be able to give $100 dollars this year, next year, that hundred dollars might be $1000, and so on.
Main Emphases: Money.
Q&A Highlights:
Q: One faculty member asked how Whiting felt about tenure.
A: Sharpley felt that tenure was very important because it means �"getting a long-term commitment [from employees] to the institution.”
Q: When asked about the future of the arts complex…
A: Sharpley said, �"We need to send a message that we’re committed to the arts.”

Name: Eugene Tracy
Current Position: Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences and Chancellor Professor of Physics at William and Mary
Past Positions: Interim Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Director of Graduate Center Programs, Director of Physics Graduate Program at William and Mary
Education: B.S. from Johns Hopkins University, M.S. and PhD from University of Maryland
Most Recent Book: Modern Eikonal Methods with Application to Plasma Physics, Cambridge University Press
Challenges/Opportunities Identified: To finally fully embrace what we have become: a leading liberal arts university with a strong research base by recommitting to liberal arts and promoting the creative life of our people. Recommitting to liberal arts can be accomplished by making connections between people, helping our students become better writers, speakers, and thinkers in a variety of creative ways, and reformatting our GERs, which have been drifting from their original commitment. Promoting the creative life of our people, through resources and spirit, can be accomplished by helping faculty regain confidence about going after big dreams. We need to have a more risk-tolerant culture, not just monetarily but spiritually, to allow for large projects and interdisciplinary work.
Main Emphases: Empowering the faculty to pursue creative and daring research while emphasizing liberal arts for students.
Q&A Highlights:
Q: What is the role of non-tenure track faculty, and how can we treat them fairly?
A: We’re in a system that relies on non-tenure track faculty, but they have no real job security, which is a problem we’ve been discussing for several years. We need to agree that if they are carrying an important part of the teaching mission, they need security – maybe 3-year contracts – to make sure we don’t just use them to get out of budget pinches.
Q: What is the importance of the arts complex in the context of a liberal arts education?
A: The arts are fundamental to liberal arts education. I would rather have sparkling conversation in dingy rooms, but facilities need to reflect the quality of the programs, and that’s not happening right now. It would be very cool if we could put the arts complex next to the ISC, creating a collision of arts and science ideas.