With the announcement of several college deans stepping down and stepping into new positions, many of Boston University’s colleges have seen a change in leadership this academic year.
Natalie McKnight was appointed dean of the College of General Studies July 18 and Sandro Galea as the dean of the School of Public Health Sept. 12. Meanwhile, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Virginia Sapiro, announced Sept. 5 that she will step down from her position at the end of the 2014-15 academic year, and the dean of the College of Fine Arts, Benjamin Juarez, announced Oct. 3 that he will step down in the same timeframe.
“There is a routine amount of turnover in these divisions,” said University Provost Jean Morrison. “We have 17 deans of schools and colleges, and just as a matter of course, people step out of leadership roles, and new people step in. There is not an increase in the amount of turnover. It is part of the normal evolution of people serving in these leadership roles.”
Over the course of the academic year, Morrison will convene two advisory committees to appoint new deans for CAS and CFA.
“In both of those cases, we are looking for people with impeccable academic credentials, demonstrable leadership experience and willingness and an interest in helping to move the university forward,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum going, and we want the incoming leaders to be important partners in helping to continue that momentum and in fact accelerate it.”
After stepping down from her position as dean, Sapiro will return to the political science department, The Daily Free Press reported Sept. 8.
Sapiro said she is proud of her many contributions to the college during her eight-year term, including a focus on first year students and the establishment of the office of Student Academic Life.
“Through that, we improved advising, and we set up the CAS first year experience, including the FY101 and all of that was really focused on making sure that we take care of our undergraduates better and help undergraduates become really engaged in their first year here and become really successful as students and as members of this community,” she said.
McKnight, who served as interim dean of CGS for one year, said she met her goals to expand opportunities for students.
“We’ve always had these core curriculum courses, and for the last couple of years, they’ve been open for other students to take, but not many students know that,” she said. “We’ve been trying to market our courses more [and] offer some other general education options that other students might be interested in.”
McKnight implemented a plan to rebuild the four science laboratories on the fourth floor of CGS. Additionally, she said she plans to increase the number of undergraduate research projects within CGS.
“We have maybe four times as many undergraduate research projects going on right now, and a good number of them are paid,” she said. “Of course, that’s a win-win. The faculty benefit from having students help them with their research, and students benefit from having this fantastic experience that can help them with their major or finding internships or getting jobs.”
Many students at BU said they are optimistic about the changes new deans will bring to the university.
Alana King, a freshman in CGS, said she is looking forward to the improvement of the facilities in CGS.
“It’s exciting that there are some new people coming in and some new ideas,” she said. “For CGS, they may want to put some more money on the funding because the building is a bit run down.”
While a change in leadership may lead to a shift in how much of a presence the deans have on campus, Daniela Federman, a dual-degree junior in the College of Communication and CAS, said she would like to see more being done for students.
“In my two years at BU, I haven’t really felt the presence of the dean to be honest,” she said. “I do think that CAS could make their resources more readily available, like the Writing and Career Center.”
Matt Bartlett, a senior in the School of Management, said he welcomes the changes and the positive effect they can have on students.
“The deans must have left for a reason, so it’s probably a good thing that we get someone in office that wants and deserves to be there,” he said. “Hopefully the change is for the better and the transition is smooth. As long as it brings positive outcome for the students, I’m all for it.”
Jessica Dorfan contributed to the reporting of this article.
