Interim dean to come from Kelley

The Kelley School of Business is now in the preliminary stages of forming a committee to find a new dean after last month's resignation of Dean Dan Dalton. \nWhile Dalton will step down as dean of the business school, he will remain with the University in a teaching capacity. \nIU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said the business school dean search process will vary from the search methods employed in other IU schools because of the business school's ties to the IUPUI campus.\n"It's a different process because the Kelley School technically reports to IUPUI, and the faculty both at the IUPUI and the Bloomington campus will recommend an interim dean," Gros Louis said. "We will then discuss the interim dean with the University president. However, there's no urgency because Dan is staying until the end of the academic year."\nGros Louis said the interim dean will most likely come from within the University. \n"The interim dean would be someone who's now in the business school," he said. "In the past, the interim dean has always been someone who's on-site."\nThe interim chancellor said the next dean could come from either external sources or within the University, but whoever takes the job will most likely have some experience in the front of a college classroom.\n"We are looking for someone who has some administrative experience, maybe someone who's been an associate dean or a dean at another business school," Gros Louis said. "We also look at CEOs or other business people with strong credentials who have taught in some capacity before."\nThe business school dean before Dalton was John Rau, a banker from Chicago who had very little teaching experience. \nThe search committee will choose both the interim dean and the person who will succed Dalton as dean of the business school. \nDuring his tenure, Dalton's focus fell largely upon internal affairs, such as the construction of the business school addition and the revamping of the MBA curriculum. Dalton said his successor will have to focus more upon the external affairs of the school. \n"A contemporary dean of a business school is going to spend a great deal of time on the road fundraising," Dalton said. "The new dean will also be working with alumni and working on corporate relationships that recruit our students for internships and full time jobs. Basically, their focus will be largely external."\nWhile Dalton's successor will focus more on the fundraising needs of the campus, IU's business school will be looking both inside and outside of the University for possible candidates.\n"The issue of whether the dean should come from within the University's faculty or from an external source is going to be one of the things we need to talk some more about," Bantz said. "I wish I could be more specific, but there are two sides to it, and we need to see what's best for the Kelley School."\nAccording to both Bantz and Gros Louis, there are pros and cons on whether the next dean will be a professor or a businessperson.\n"If there's an academic person chosen, then it is harder to move into the position in the middle of the academic year," Gros Louis said. "However, if it's a non-academic person, then they could potentially take the position as early as Jan. 1."\nWhile Gros Louis and Bantz will be searching for Dalton's replacement, they are both grateful for Dalton's work during his tenure as dean.\n"(Dalton) has done an excellent job," Bantz said. "The job he has done as dean has been exemplary, and he has become even more impressive as a scholar. Now, he'll be an important member of the faculty, but his leadership as dean will surely be missed."\n-- Contact senior writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.