The committee seeking a new Dean of Residential Life will meet today to choose a finalist for the position, according to search committee chair and Associate Dean of the College Janet Terp.
The committee will then make their recommendation to Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson and incoming Dean of the College James Larimore, who will make the final decision based on the committee's recommendation.
The new appointee will fill the position vacated by Mary Turco last April. Mary Liscinsky, who has been serving as Acting Dean of Residential Life since Turco stepped down from her post, will become the special assistant to the Dean of the College.
Four final candidates for the position met with the search committee, residential life staff and students as well as Nelson and Larimore, for interviews last week.
"I hope we'll have the process wrapped up by the middle of the month," Nelson said.
The new dean will be responsible for general operations of residential life at the College and will oversee the implementation of the Board of Trustees' social and residential life initiative.
"It's going to be a particularly busy time for the office because there will be the challenge of implementing whatever change comes out of the new resolution on residential and social life," Nelson said.
Terp said the committee had several criteria.
"We were looking for somebody that has residential life experience, could be an advocate for students, and someone who understands and appreciates the in the classroom and out of the classroom experience," she said.
Terp said the final four candidates represented a variety of backgrounds, but would not disclose any more information about the potential candidates.
James Gallo '99, the student member of the search committee, said he was impressed with the pool of applicants.
"I thought the applicant pool was strong and we had a difficult time narrowing it down to the finalists," Gallo said.
He said that in addition to the skills listed by Terp, the committee was also looking for a candidate with strong interpersonal, organizational, management and budgeting skills.
"We're thinking about how well this person would work with a wide variety of constituencies including students, faculty, administrators and alumni," Gallo said.
The new dean position is expected to be announced to the public as soon as the finalist has accepted the position.
