Wade Hobgood, a professor of mass communications at North Carolina-Asheville, was in Lawrence last week interviewing for the job as dean of the Kansas University School of Fine Arts. William May, dean of the Baylor University School of Music, was in Lawrence earlier this week being interviewed for the job, and Aaron Horne, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Winston-Salem University, was the last of the three finalists to visit KU.
The position opened up when Dean Steve Hedden announced last year that he would leave the deanship at the end of the current school year. Hedden has served as dean since 2003.
Selecting a dean for the School of Fine Arts is a terribly important responsibility. It’s an important task whether it’s for a dean for the School of Fine Arts or for a dean at any other school within the university family. Deans can and do make a tremendous difference in the excellence of a university. The vision, leadership, ability to raise money and make friends for the school all are important. Likewise, it is essential for a dean to have a good relationship with the chancellor of the university and, in KU’s case, the provost.
Deans are not changed or resign every day, so when there is an opportunity to hire a dean, every effort should be made to seek the very best individuals to move into those jobs.
This raises the question of whether KU is doing everything it can to get a truly superior dean.