Deans, deans where is the new crop of deans?
Here's the latest on Kansas University's dean searchathon:
One candidate to take over leadership of the fine arts school is Carole Ross, the interim dean.
Ross said she and one other person are up for the position. She did not know the name of the other candidate.
John Gaunt, architecture dean and head of the fine arts search committee, was unavailable to answer the obvious question Tuesday.
The obvious question: Who is the other candidate? If you know, leave a message on my voice mail. The number appears at the bottom of this column.
Charles Krider, business professor and head of the business school dean search committee, said the committee is placing advertisements within the next few weeks in the appropriate national publications.
The committee has decided it will be seeking an academic to replace Tom Sarowski, who came to the school from private business.
"Our last two deans have been from business," Krider said. "We thought this would be an appropriate time to have an academic as dean."
The committee hopes to have candidates on campus for interviews by January.
Also, KU is looking for a permanent deans for the law and graduate schools.
Bells were ringing
OK, I don't know if bells actually rang, but they should have.
Board of Regents Vice Chairman Clay Blair III married Janet Sereres in a ceremony Saturday at Danforth Chapel. Blair earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate from KU. He also donated the land for the Edwards Campus in Overland Park.
The Blairs are honeymooning this week in Utah.
And if you need
a 70-80 seat chapel ...
Speaking of Danforth, it's easy to rent, if you are doing a wedding, christening or memorial service. Just go by the Office of Organizations and Leadership Development in the Kansas Union. Pick up and fill out a form. You don't have to be affiliated with KU in any way.
Other services or meetings need approval by a committee.
Unlike Wake Forest University, KU does not prohibit gay weddings, according to office supervisor Jenna Coker.
"No problem, this is KU," Coker said.
"We just look to see if it says 'wedding' (on the registration form)," she said. "We don't look and see if it's Mary Smith and Jane Smith."
Wake Forest recently prohibited a gay union from taking place in a chapel on its campus. Part of the reason for the decision by Wake Forest trustees was a desire to honor the school's Baptist heritage.
From God to science
Chancellor Robert Hemenway is making a list and checking it twice as he fills the 15-member task force on science education and literacy.
Hemenway said he would create the task force at the faculty/staff convocation earlier this academic year.
He also said he planned to move fast on the appointments.
"Maybe I was using university notions of time and space when I said that," Hemenway said.
The task force is Hemenway's creative response to the Kansas Board of Education's decision to rewrite the evolution and science curriculum for elementary and secondary students.
The task force will make recommendations to insure excellence in the education of scientists and science educators and to improve science literacy among KU students.
The names of the task force members should be available by next week.
The chairman of the task force is Assistant Provost Rich Givens. Hemenway hopes that by the end of the year the task force will be raising private funds to carry out its mission.
Things to do today
If you need an excuse to grab a beer over lunch, say you're going to the talk by Kim Wilcox, executive director of the Board of Regents. It's at noon in Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
Wilcox, former head of KU's speech-language-hearing department, is scheduled to talk about opportunities presented by the reconstituted Board of Regents. The talk is being sponsored by the Unclassified Professional Staff Assn.
If you need that excuse later in the day, I suggest you say you're going to "East Timor and Its Various Ramifications," a talk by Dale Lambertson. It's at 4:30 p.m. in the English Room of the Union.
Lambertson is the director of international development in the graduate school. He's also a former ambassador to Thailand.
And, if you don't know what a Board of Regents or an East Timor is, skip the beer and go to the talks.
Ah, Havana ...
Silvia Pedraza, a sociologist who specializes in the study of Cuba since Fidel rode into town and became the new sheriff, will give a lecture called "Political Disaffection: Cuba's Revolution and Exodus" at 3:30 p.m. in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union.
(I like that, Kansas Room of the Kansas Union. You just want to say it over and over again.)
And if you don't know who Fidel is, go to the lecture and find out who runs the country off the coast of Florida.
Be there or be square.
-- Erwin Seba's phone message number is 832-7145. His e-mail address is eseba@ljworld.com.
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