RPI — “Acting” School?
Ever wonder why so many of our Deans and Department Heads are “Acting”? Well, it means that the job has been temporarily filled since the previous person left, and they are conducting a search to fill it. What’s interesting is how many “acting” administrators there are (3 out of 5 deans and 4 out of 21 Department Heads):
Architecture- Mark Mistur -Acting Dean
Engineering- Timothy Wei- Interim Dean
Science- David Spooner- Acting Dean
Arts- Mary Anne Staniszewski -Acting Head
Civil and Environmental Engineering- Jose Holguin-Veras- Acting Head
Computer Science- Martin Hardwick- Acting Head
Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering- Achille Messac- Acting Head
The high turnover in Deans and Department Heads doesn’t reflect well on RPI’s ability to hold good administrators. Let’s see if we can actually keep some deans!
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The problem with retaining department chairs and deans has more to do with the time involved with the position than with administrative issues. Professors are far more interested in doing their research and would rather not spend time fundraising and going to meetings. If they were keen on holding such positions, they would be more inclined to go after bigger posts at larger universities. Look at the US News’ Top 20 Engineering Schools, and there not many other small private schools on that list. It is a tough arena to compete for talent.