Dean of Graduate Studies Carol Folt took over as the dean of the faculty on June 4 following Michael Gazzaniga's resignation late last spring. Folt was appointed to a two-year term as interim dean, allowing the faculty's Committee on Organization and Policy to undertake a thorough review of faculty governance before a new dean is selected in 2006.
Folt has held the office before, acting as interim dean of the faculty from July 1 through Sept. 1, 2002, when Gazzaniga assumed the role. Folt has also served as the associate dean of the faculty for interdisciplinary programs.
According to College President James Wright, Folt's tenure as dean will be marked by priorities including the expansion of the faculty, competitive faculty compensation packages, increased support for teaching and scholarly activities and new facilities for the life sciences and the arts.
"Dean Folt and her colleagues have embraced these priorities and will continue to move them forward with energy and creativity," Wright wrote in a BlitzMail announcement to the College's arts and sciences faculty.
Folt is a biology professor, specializing in aquatic environmental science. She has published more than 50 articles on the subject, along with a book and edited volume, and she has received numerous grants including funds from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. Folt is also the associate director of the Center for Environmental Health Sciences and of the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Research Program.
In his announcement, Wright said Folt is a dedicated teacher and mentor, who has advised more than 100 students in her laboratory. Folt also played a critical role in founding and developing the Women in Science Project.
In addition, Folt was the 1991 recipient of the College's J. Kenneth Huntington Memorial Prize for Teaching and will serve as the first-year lecturer for the Class of 2008 during their orientation.
"I look forward to working with my faculty colleagues and the senior administration in advancing the work of the faculty," Folt said in a statement after her appointment. "I am confident that the faculty have as their highest priority their teaching and scholarship, and we look forward to advancing those priorities in the coming years."
Wright made the decision to appoint Folt after consulting with several faculty committees, namely the Committee Advisory to the President and the Committee on Organization and Policy, which recommended Folt serve a two-year term so that it could review faculty governance and the role of the dean before searching for someone to fill the position.
According to economics professor and COP Chair William Fischel, Wright sought advice specifically on the length of the interim appointment and did not elicit names of candidates to fill the position.
The COP's review of faculty governance is not a direct response to Gazzaniga's resignation following a contentious vote Spring term by the faculty's Committee of Chairs that he no longer possessed the necessary skills to continue in his position, Fishel said. In fact, the COP considered such a review as early as January and members of the committee "had no conflict with Dean Gazzaniga," he added.
"The governance issue is a faculty concern that's not related to any particular dean. I think the feeling ... is that faculty governance isn't working the way it should," Fischel said, adding that the faculty periodically reviews and changes its committee system.
As for why Folt was appointed for a two-year term, Fischel said he thought it made more se nse for the review to be completed before appointing a permanent faculty dean and a simultaneous search for a new dean and review of faculty governance would "overtax our [the committee's] resources."
Next year's COP, led by physics professor Walter Lawrence, will conduct the review of faculty governance. Although it will focus on rethinking the structure of faculty committees, Lawrence declined to comment on specific steps the committee will take until having met with the members to finalize their activities.
Gazzaniga, the David T. McLaughlin Distinguished University Professor and the Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, is a 1961 graduate and one of the College's foremost scholars. According to Wright, Gazzaniga will return to his position in the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences.
In a BlitzMail message to the faculty, Wright acknowledged the differences among faculty members that led to Gazzaniga's resignation.
"Both Mike and I very much regret the differences among the faculty and pledge to work together to resolve them," Wright wrote.
But, despite those differences, Wright was grateful for Gazzaniga's achievements as dean of the faculty.
"I would like to thank Mike for his work as dean for the past two years where he has championed faculty scholarship and has expanded the number and ambitions of the faculty. He has worked to resolve pressing space needs for several departments. He has encouraged cross-disciplinary connections within the arts and sciences and with the professional schools, which he will continue to do as the only University Professor at Dartmouth," Wright wrote.
Gazzaniga declined to comment on his future plans late Spring term.
"Now is not the time to comment on the larger picture. I wish Dartmouth well. The best thing about Dartmouth is the students," Gazzaniga said.
The current associate deans of the faculty will keep their current positions as Folt begins her tenure, including Martin Wybourne, who will remain associate dean for the sciences during a transitional period before assuming the role of vice provost.
Mathematics and computer science professor Daniel Rockmore, whom Gazzaniga had chosen to succeed Wybourne, has withdrawn his name from consideration to become associate dean.
