Kansas University’s various academic deans have high aspirations for the upcoming school year.

Priorities range from embarking on “voyages of discovery” for new deans — of which there are several this year — to moving into newly constructed buildings.

The Journal-World asked the question, and deans responded via email:

What are your top goals for the upcoming academic year?

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dean: Don Steeples (interim)

Appointed: March 2015

KU is in the process of searching for a new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. So I have three principal goals for the academic year: 1.) Help to entice an outstanding new dean to come to KU. 2.)  Keep the academic trains running efficiently, effectively and on time until the new dean arrives. 3.) Avoid writing checks that the new dean will have difficulty cashing. In other words, I will try not to make commitments that the new dean will have trouble fulfilling.

School of Architecture, Design and Planning

Dean: Mahesh Daas

Appointed: June 2015

Embarking on a voyage of discovery, for myself, our students and faculty, staff and alumni. The school is at the threshold of becoming something new, and to start getting us there we are holding a retreat in August to reflect on the rich legacy of the school and envision an inspiring future. I want to communicate to the world stories of the many accomplishments and people of this pioneering school. I want to continue by engaging alumni and friends and gathering resources that help the school take an intellectual leadership role in the region and the worlds of architecture, design and planning. We already excel in so many areas that I believe we can indeed positively shape practices, policies, products and places of the future.

School of Business

Dean: Neeli Bendapudi

Appointed: 2011

Our vision at the school is to make it a great place to learn, a great place to work, and a great place to invest. Specific goals for the coming year include the following: building on our excellence in undergraduate education by emphasizing experiential learning; personalizing advising and career services to be best-in-class in advancing student success; launching the online MBA and stackable certificates; cementing the Working Professional Masters of Accounting degree at the Edwards campus, and of course, successfully and smoothly transitioning to Capitol Federal Hall.  

School of Education

Dean: Rick Ginsberg

Appointed: 2005

We have three major initiatives underway. One is focusing on strengthening the use of instructional technology and advancement of online graduate certificate and degree programs. A second is promoting our diversity agenda around strengthening curriculum, attracting more diverse students, faculty and staff, and better preparing students for the diverse communities they will serve. And the third is to continue developing our research leadership in areas related to the KU “Bold Aspirations” strategic initiatives.

School of Engineering

Dean: Michael Branicky

Appointed: 2013

The School of Engineering will open doors this fall to our major expansion on the main campus, a building comprising nearly 110,000 square feet of state-of-the-art active-learning classrooms, student success and career services, teaching and research laboratories, and collaboration and study spaces. Overall student enrollment is expected to top our all-time record last year. We remain well ahead of pace to meet degree production goals set by the state, which helps Kansas and Kansas City metropolitan area companies grow and advance our economy.

School of Journalism

Dean: Ann Brill

Appointed: 2004

The School has a national reputation as a leader in curriculum innovation and meeting the needs of our changing professions. Curriculum review is one of our priorities this year. Building on our 83 percent job placement rate, we will expand our Career Center to increase employment, internships and national scholarship opportunities. We will expand partnerships with the KU Medical Center and the schools of Engineering and Business. And, we will be working with donors to create new scholarships.

School of Law

Dean: Stephen Mazza

Appointed: 2011

Our reduced class size has helped us maintain high admissions standards and a 92 percent overall employment rate, a level not seen since 2007. We were among the top 26 percent of all American Bar Association-approved law schools for graduates taking full-time, long-term positions classified as bar-passage-required or J.D.-advantage. New efforts, including an intensive writing- and professional skills-focused curriculum and a Washington, D.C., externship program with classes taught by visiting KU Law faculty, will ensure even more future success.

School of Music

Dean: Robert Walzel

Appointed: 2010

Student chamber ensembles will partner with the Lied Center for the first time in educational outreach programs for local and regional public school students. The KU Jazz Ensemble I has been selected as the outstanding collegiate jazz ensemble for 2015 by Downbeat magazine — the highest award that a collegiate jazz program can receive — and will perform in April 2016 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The International Clarinet Association will hold its annual conference ClarinetFest in Summer 2016 — more than 1,000 performers and scholars from around the world will attend. We continue to raise money for replacing outdated and deteriorating pianos.

School of Pharmacy

Dean: Ken Audus

Appointed: 2004

The school will be focusing on the implementation of new accreditation-required changes in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum, including a broadening of inter-professional education in partnerships with the KU Medical Center locations in Kansas City and Wichita, and health profession programs at Wichita State University. Priorities also include the recruitment of high-profile faculty to replace retiring Distinguished Professors and retention of faculty that continue to expand research collaborations across the state and the world.

School of Social Welfare

Dean: Paul Smokowski

Appointed: July 2015

My goals for the 2015-2016 academic year are to: 1.) Expand our graduate and undergraduate curriculum offerings in innovative ways, developing new certificate programs and continuing education opportunities; 2.) Continue to enhance our community-based research; and 3.) engage our faculty, alumni and community partners in a strategic planning process to raise awareness of the School of Social Welfare’s reputation in the region and across the nation.

School of Medicine

Executive Dean: Robert Simari

Appointed: 2014

The main goals of the School of Medicine are: 1.) To finalize plans and begin construction for the Health Education Building on the corner of 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard. 2.) To transform our undergraduate medical curriculum to fit the new building. The transformed curriculum will take advantage of state of the art space for medical simulation and standardized patients. 3.) To finalize the applications for renewal of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center, the Center for Translational Science Award (Frontiers) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Center from the National Institutes of Health.

School of Nursing

Dean: Marge Bott (interim)

Appointed: July 2015

KU School of Nursing will focus on providing nursing leadership to campus-wide priorities and implementing school-based priorities. Those campus-wide priorities include the design and implementation of a new health education building, supporting clinical integration and promoting diversity, inclusivity and civility. School of Nursing priorities include further advancing interprofessional approaches across our missions of education, research and practice; expanding community engagement initiatives, fostering leadership development and implementing strategies for the integration of “big data.”

School of Health Professions

Dean: John Ferraro (interim)

Appointed: July 2015

My goal as interim dean is to work with the chairpersons, faculty, staff and students of our school to maintain the excellence of our programs and to facilitate the best possible transition to an era of new leadership.