Hutton makes formal recommendation for new dean

The search committee for the new dean of the Hutton Honors College made its formal recommendation to the provost early this week.

After a long search process, there were three final candidates — Maria Bucur, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Andrea Ciccarelli, chair for the department of French and Italian; and Fritz Breithaupt, who has served as interim dean since July.

“We look forward with eagerness to one of our great colleagues that will make a wonderful new dean,” said Dennis Groth, interim vice provost for undergraduate education and chair of the search committee.

Groth added, though the committee has made a recommendation, how long it takes the provost to respond is out of their hands.

The committee of 12 was composed of two students and 10 IU faculty members.
“Having students on the committee and seeking their input has been a very important principle for us,” Groth said.

The two students on the committee were Michael Jancovich, a senior majoring in biology, neuroscience and Spanish and Kristin Froehle, a senior in the Kelley School of Business majoring in business, economics and public policy.

Both were asked to join based on their significant involvement in Hutton student organizations such as the Hutton Honors College Association.

“I feel like they’ve really made an effort to include the student voice, and I’m appreciative of that,” Jancovich said.

Aside from having two student committee members, Hutton staged town hall meetings open to the public and sent surveys to all honors students to gather a more widespread student response.

Froehle said student perception of candidates was something she often considered while on the committee.

She highlighted the importance of the town hall meetings. The meetings have been beneficial during previous dean searches on IU’s campus.

“It’s really good to have a more holistic response from students,” she said.

Groth said the committee received what he would consider an excellent response from the student surveys, adding that the committee takes all comments seriously.

Jancovich said since the dean is an advocate for students, the student voice is necessary, as is the dean’s focus on students.

“My primary metric has been engagement with students, someone who’s really going to reach out to students, listen to their needs, advocate for them,” Jancovich said.
Now, the conclusion of the search lies in the hands of the provost.

“For these types of searches, after we’ve submitted our recommendation, we wait to see if there’s anything else we can do,” Groth said.

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