Kansas University’s deans took time this summer to outline their goals and priorities for the upcoming year. All schools are facing difficult budget situations and are having to find new answers to old questions concerning their schools’ activity for the upcoming year.

Their answers follow:

Schools of Allied Health and Nursing

Dean: Karen Miller

Year appointed: 1998

Upcoming issues: Both schools will be dealing with an increasing number of students and a declining level of state resources, Miller said. She said a priority is to continue implementation of clinical doctoral programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy and audiology. At the allied health school, Miller said a focus will be on meeting public demand for physical therapists, respiratory therapists and occupational therapists.

School of Architecture, Design and Planning

Dean: John Gaunt

Year appointed: 1994

Upcoming issues: Gaunt said the school will incorporate the design department this year as part of the reorganization of the School of Fine Arts, and will explore some off-campus design programs for its students. The school will also implement a human health and wellness program to give students an awareness of the special needs of a career in health care architecture.

School of Business

Dean: William Fuerst

Year appointed: 2000

Upcoming issues: Fuerst said international partnerships will be a focus for the school, as “business is global.” He said the school is looking at possibility of providing a management continuing education program in the biosciences, and will continue its Jayhawk Consulting projects, where students provide small businesses with consulting efforts.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dean: Greg Simpson (interim)

Year appointed: 2009

Upcoming issues: In his interim role, Simpson said he intended to move forward on the goals and priorities of a strategic plan outlined under his predecessor, Joseph Steinmetz. Work will continue on a center for global and international studies and a center for analysis of research data. Also, Simpson said he looked forward to integrating the new School of the Arts into the college, and would be forwarding priorities and needs concerning a new capital campaign to KU Endowment.

School of Education

Dean: Rick Ginsberg

Year appointed: 2005

Upcoming issues: At the education school, like others at KU, a focus will be maintaining its level of progress while cutting back on available funds, Ginsberg said. He said the school will continue to move forward on its strategic plan initiatives, which call for improvement in many core areas of the school.

School of Engineering

Dean: Stuart Bell

Year appointed: 2002

Upcoming issues: Bell said the school would continue to focus on recruiting great students to attempt to fill the demand for an increasing number of engineers in the state. He said the school would focus on the things it does well and protect them for the future.

School of Journalism

Dean: Ann Brill

Year appointed: 2004

Upcoming issues: Brill said the journalism school was looking to recruit a new faculty member for the upcoming year. School officials are also putting together a doctoral program in journalism, which would be the first in the state. Brill said the proposal is still in the formative stages, and would need to be presented to the Kansas Board of Regents.

School of Law

Dean: Gail Agrawal

Year appointed: 2006

Upcoming issues: Agrawal said the school expects this year to establish an intellectual center on international trade and agriculture. Also, she said the school will foster legal clinics that will provide indigent medical patients with legal services like applying for benefits.

School of Medicine

Dean: Barbara Atkinson

Year appointed: 2002

Upcoming issues: Atkinson said the school will focus on recruiting new faculty members to support KU’s ongoing quest to achieve National Cancer Institute designation. The medical school’s Wichita campus has new leadership, and will continue to explore how to address graduate medical education there.

School of Music

Dean: Alicia Ann Clair (interim)

Year appointed: 2009

Upcoming issues: With the newly minted School of Music partially replacing the School of Fine Arts, Clair said she intended to work on branding the new school to bring attention to the students and faculty. She said she hoped to act as a caregiver to those who needed assistance, and would seek to develop an identity for the new school in the upcoming year.

School of Pharmacy

Dean: Kenneth Audus

Year appointed: 2004

Upcoming issues: A large focus during the next academic year will be on building expansion, Audus said. The school will prepare to move into a new building on KU’s West Campus, scheduled to be completed in 2010, and out of Malott Hall.

School of Social Welfare

Dean: Mary Ellen Kondrat

Year appointed: 2006

Upcoming issues: The School of Social Welfare is scheduled to unveil a partially online master’s degree program, Kondrat said, with half the coursework online and half not. She said the program will bring in the best of both worlds, where students can work on projects online and participate in traditional classroom learning. The school has also revised its doctoral program.