The newly selected committee responsible for conducting the dean of the College of Sciences search will begin advertising the position this week and hopes to complete the search process in March.

James Johnson, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, was chosen by Provost Blair Lord to chair the 13-member committee, which was formed Oct. 3.

“We will begin posting the description this week and will continue until filled,” he said. “We hope to make our recommendations to the vice president in early March.”

The committee will send forth its recommendation to Lord, who will then report to interim President Lou Hencken. The position being filled has been held in the interim by Mary-Anne Hanner, who took over for Lida Wall when she assumed the provost position on an interim basis. Wall retired over the summer after Lord was hired as the permanent provost.

The committee held its first meeting Oct. 18 and has established a plan of action.

This week the committee will begin advertising the position, both on the university’s Web site and through other publications.

“After the committee was formed, we met, developed a position description, position announcement and recruitment plan and within the group then established the timeline for the search,” Johnson said. “We’ll advertise in multiple areas including, The Chronicle of Higher Education and other appropriate professional journals and newsletters related to the College of Sciences.”

According to the committee’s timeline, the next step, which will begin in January, will be to review applications.

The review process will be followed by campus interviews in February and the committee anticipates sending forth its recommendations to Lord in March.

The committee has established a list of essential duties and responsibilities that comprise the dean of the College of Sciences’ position and has compiled a list of required qualifications.

“The person must have a completed doctorate in one of the areas within the College of Sciences,” Johnson said.

Other qualities include significant administrative and budgetary experience, proven leadership ability, outstanding communication skills and commitments to both education and diversity.

The following university representatives were chosen to serve on the search committee: Caridad Brito, assistant psychology professor; James Conwell, physics professor; Mihn Dao, economics professor; Craig Eckert, sociology/anthropology professor; Vincent Gutowski, geology/geography professor; Cheryl Hawker, mathematics professor; Ellen Keiter, chemistry professor; Barbara Kuykendall, assistant to the dean, College of Sciences; Melinda Mueller, associate political science professor; Tom Nelson, biological sciences professor; Gail Richard, communication disorders and sciences professor; and Nick Owen, student representative.