Ann Clarke, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, was promoted to the dean position Friday by Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina.

‘It was clear Ann had strong support from all of the constituents, and as associate dean and chair, she demonstrated strong qualities,’ Spina said. ‘She listens, she is not afraid to tackle tough issues, she isn’t afraid to advocate when it is appropriate, she’s decisive, quite transparent and she’s a good communicator.’

Clarke’s promotion took effect immediately after Spina’s decision. She will succeed Carole Brzozowski, who was appointed to university performing arts presenter Jan. 25 by Chancellor Nancy Cantor.

Clarke will serve as dean until a national search begins in September 2009. Expansion of the search to a national platform was prompted by students and faculty and confirmed by Spina Feb. 7.

Spina met with his advisory committee Feb. 11 and made the decision to promote Clarke at the end of last week.

‘I think it was critically important to receive input from the faculty and students,’ he said. ‘And at the same time, I need to pay attention to my own instincts. I met with the advisory committee and its student representative (graduate student Sky Harris), and she gave very valuable input on behalf of students who attended the forum and students who had looked over all of the candidates’ materials.’

Harris said the process overall was a good learning experience about how to engage faculty and students in the governance of the college.

‘Student input was taken seriously, and I was treated like a full member of the committee,’ she said. ‘The things we discovered about student participation were a learning experience for us, and obviously there are still issues with engaging students that need to be addressed.’

Spina would not comment on whether Clarke would be offered candidacy in the national dean search.

‘For now, I want to focus on Ann Clarke as the dean of VPA, and I’m charging the staff and students to work with Ann as the dean,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to think about what’s next. At the end of the next academic year, we’ll come back together to decide what the next steps are. Right now I want VPA to work with Ann as the dean of the college.’

Harris said it will be difficult for Clarke to make changes to the college in such a short time, but she said the national search is necessary.

‘It’s definitely an interest of the faculty and students to bring someone in with an objective viewpoint, though that may be both positive and negative,’ she said. ‘But I think the general consensus is that the college is really interested in having someone with an outside perspective to work toward the kind of change the college wants to make.’

The four candidates in the internal search were Clarke, Joseph Downing from the Setnor School of Music, Tom Sherman from the department of Transmedia and Kendall Phillips from the department of communication and rhetorical studies.

Phillips said each of the candidates had a fair chance to offer their qualifications and ideas to Spina, faculty and students.

‘Obviously, the process was done quickly, but I think that it was important for the college to resolve the leadership question and get on with the many exciting things that are happening around here,’ Phillips said. ‘I should say as a chair of one of the college’s departments, I’m very happy that things are stable and we can begin moving on with our many initiatives with strong leadership in the dean’s office.’

Clarke was not available for comment.

shmelike@syr.edu

Published on March 17, 2008 at 12:00 pm