James Guthrie

Two Kansas University schools now are searching for new deans, and today KU announced who will lead those schools in the meantime.

James Guthrie, associate dean of academic affairs for the School of Business, and Stephen Kapp, acting dean for the School of Social Welfare, will assume roles as interim deans of their respective units, according to a KU news release.

Guthrie will take over for School of Business Dean Neeli Bendapudi — who will be the one leading both dean searches as KU’s new provost and executive vice chancellor. Bendapudi, whose promotion KU announced last month, formally takes over as provost July 1.

Prior to being given the longer-term title of interim dean this week, Kapp was quickly named acting dean back in March, the day former School of Social Welfare dean Paul Smokowski resigned after a series of student diversity protests that targeted him personally. Smokowski, who came to KU from Arizona State University less than a year ago, planned to stay on at KU to teach and research as a faculty member.

Read more about Guthrie and Kapp and their academic records and research here.

Bendapudi will review and update position descriptions for both dean openings this summer, according to KU, and national searches for permanent replacements may begin this fall.

James Guthrie

Stephen Kapp

• Kansan hiring adviser: In another KU staffing item of interest, the University Daily Kansan is hiring an editorial adviser after spending the past school year without one. Editors said they couldn’t rehire the vacant position because of a Student Senate cut that left the newspaper with $45,000 in student fee revenue for the 2015-16 school year instead of the previous $90,000. As I recently reported, the Kansan will see its former level of student fee funding restored for the coming year.

KU’s job posting indicates they’re seeking a professional multimedia journalist who would be hired as a member of the university staff. Teaching journalism classes is not part of the job description.

According to the job posting, the advertised salary range is $45,000 to $55,000, and interested journalists should apply by June 19.

Students make the decisions at the Kansan. But as spring 2016 editor-in-chief Vicky Díaz-Camacho put it during a Student Senate meeting last semester, “We all need direction.”

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• I’m the Journal-World’s KU and higher ed reporter. See all the newspaper’s KU coverage at KUToday.com. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com, by phone at 832-7187, on Twitter @saramarieshep or via Facebook at Facebook.com/SaraShepherdNews.