Photo by Rebecca Arrington

Ayers reaffirms goal of first-rate teaching

Staff Report

Arts & Sciences Dean Edward L. Ayers said he plans to make the school as strong and active as possible, in spite of state budget constraints. “Our primary goal is to take care of our central mission – and that is the teaching mission – above all else. We must protect what we have, our faculty and our students, while at the same time keep moving forward.”

Ayers said he believes that the College is positioned to do great things in hard times. His presentation, which opened with the words, “a place unique in the world” to describe the College, focused on its needs and aspirations.

He pointed to two building projects – the Arts Grounds and the South Lawn Project – as initiatives that were keeping both Arts & Sciences faculty and alumni enthusiastic in the face of fiscal uncertainty.

Ayers recently hired an academic consulting firm to help in what he called the “detailed process of space planning that would begin to give us a clear sense of ourselves.” He will use the benchmarking report to lay the groundwork for long-term planning – all the while keeping focused on one fact: “We are a first-rate intimate undergraduate experience with all the advantages of a large research university,” Ayers said. “And we never want to lose sight of that.”

Reorganization in College management structure

Ayers also announced a reorganization of the College dean’s office in an effort to be “as efficient and responsive as possible.”

He said he has asked “three of our most respected faculty members to step into major new roles,” beginning in late June. All have served as chairs of their respective departments.

• George Hornberger, the Ernest H. Ern Professor of Environmental Sciences, will become the associate dean for the sciences.  

• Karen Ryan of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, and currently associate dean for personnel in the College, will become associate dean for the arts, humanities and social sciences.

• Peter Brunjes, Commonwealth Professor of Psychology, will become the associate dean for graduate programs and research.

Ryan and Hornberger will have principal responsibility for day-to-day resource allocation and management among their respective departments. They will serve as the first points of contact for chairs, unit heads and faculty with questions regarding resources and faculty personnel matters.

Brunjes will have responsibility for management of all Graduate School operations and graduate support budgets. He also will be responsible for managing and promoting sponsored research and will oversee the Arts & Sciences Research Administration Office.