Some faculty at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications want more transparency in the hiring process for the school’s next dean.

The Newhouse dean search committee announced Jan. 14 it had scheduled three unnamed finalists to visit the school between Jan. 15 and Jan. 24. Students and faculty could receive the candidates’ names, cover letters and resumes a day before each visit by agreeing to attend the presentations via a school-wide email.

Students were advised not to disperse or publicize the candidate information to preserve the confidentiality of the search.

After the first candidate’s presentation Jan. 16, some professors said they’re disappointed by secrecy surrounding the hiring process.

“As a communications school, we’re used to more straightforward, transparent approaches to questions that affect all of us,” said Ken Harper, associate professor of visual communications. “We’ve been left wanting in that area because of how the search has evolved in bringing the final candidates to Newhouse.”

The search for a new dean for the Newhouse School began after the death of former dean Lorraine Branham last April. Branham served as dean for nearly 11 years. After her death, the university established a search committee composed of Newhouse faculty, students and alumni to determine her long-term successor. The university hopes to appoint a new dean to the position by July 2020, according to an SU News release.

Harper said lack of information left some faculty feeling in the dark about the hiring process.

Brad Gorham, chair of the Newhouse communications department, said in a statement that the “[cloak]-and-dagger-like secrecy” surrounding the candidates for dean has led his colleagues to investigate who the candidates may be and share the names with others.

Gorham understands why confidentiality is needed during the early application process, but said the university should tell faculty, staff and students about the final candidates once they’re invited to campus.

Providing the cover letter and resume of candidates ahead of their presentation is rare among dean searches, said John Wildhack, director of SU Athletics and co-chair of the dean search committee, in a statement.

“We have, and continue to advance this search process in a transparent manner, empowering the Newhouse community to interact with the candidates, while also respecting the confidentiality any academic leader would expect during a search process,” Wildhack said.

Newhouse is large, with approximately 150 faculty members and 2,250 students on campus, Wildhack said. It’s not possible to provide every member of the campus community the opportunity to meet the candidates directly, he said.

More than 60 Newhouse faculty and staff attended each of the dean forums, Wildhack said. Interim Dean Amy Falkner also hosted a dinner with candidates and a group of Newhouse faculty and staff, he said. Feedback from Newhouse faculty, staff and students will aid in the final candidate’s selection, he said.

Aileen Gallagher, associate professor of magazine, news and digital journalism, said after the presentation that she believes SU’s central administration, not the search committee, chose to keep the final stages of the process secretive. Gallagher’s colleagues on the committee told her the decision to keep the finalists’ names under wraps was not their own, she said.

Gallagher said she is confident in the search committee’s ability to find a qualified fit for the position, but she worries that the secrecy surrounding the process will be a turnoff to potential candidates. The lack of information runs counterintuitive to Newhouse’s identity as a communications school, she said.

“A situation that requires speculation on the part of the faculty to find out who might be the next leader of their school is problematic,” Gallagher said. “We believe in open access to information. And that starts with how we conduct ourselves.”

— News editor Emma Folts contributed reporting to this article.

Published on January 28, 2020 at 11:09 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu