Trustees approve Cronin for SLIS dean

The board of trustees approved Blaise Cronin as the new dean of the School of Library and Information Sciences Friday. This decision comes exactly one year after Cronin originally stepped down from the dean's position. \nCronin served as SLIS dean for 12 years and brought the program national recognition during his tenure. Last January, he decided to take a year-long sabbatical but remained a member of the faculty.\n"I don't think it's unusual for deans to take leave of absences," trustee Patrick Shoulders said in a previous Indiana Daily Student article. "There are those that sometimes tire of administrative duties and go back to the classroom for awhile."\nCronin, an author of more than 300 research articles, was expected to return to his dean's position eventually after making SLIS into one of the nation's finest information science departments and expanding the number of masters and Ph.D. degrees. \nCronin has traveled to more than 30 countries, working with companies like World Bank, UNESCO, British Council, Her Majesty's Treasury and Hewlett-Packard.\nIU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis made the recommendation to the board of trustees after a four-person advisory committee from SLIS recommended Cronin for the role. Gros Louis told the trustees that despite the decision not being "unanimously popular," the majority of the faculty wanted Cronin to come back.\nCronin will officially become the SLIS dean July 1, with several important decisions waiting for him. One of the largest issues he will face relates to the relationship between SLIS and the School of Informatics. The faculty recently voted not to participate in the merger between informatics and computer sciences, but the advisory committee still feels that Cronin is best suited to negotiate relations with the schools, Gros Louis said.\nRelations with the School of Informatics won't be the only issue on Cronin's plate, as faculty appointments are also scheduled for the near future.\n"We are right now engaged in a search for two faculty positions, and I think he will be instrumental in getting the best possible faculty hired for those positions," Interim SLIS Dean Deborah Shaw said.\nShaw will officially lose her title of interim dean June 30 but will remain in the department as a faculty member. \n"Blaise has had plans to talk to me after the trustees' decision," Shaw said, "so we haven't really discussed what my responsibilities will be."\n-- Contact senior writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.