Trustees approve new graduate dean

The IU board of trustees approved James C. Wimbush as dean of the University Graduate School at its monthly meeting Friday. Wimbush, who is currently a professor of business administration and chair of the IU Kelley School of Business' Department of Management, takes over Oct. 1. He replaces former dean John Slattery, who stepped down last year.\n"I am honored to have this position," Wimbush said. "One of the concerns is that the grad school slipped when Dean Slattery left, but Interim Dean Eugene Kintgen kept it running very well. I am very grateful for his help."\nAs dean, Wimbush said he hopes to improve the graduate school's visibility on campus and get more grants and funding for the program.\n"I hope to enhance the services we provide to students as well as the academic unit," he said.\nMore than 13,000 students are enrolled in graduate programs across IU's eight campuses, according to a press release.\nWimbush also said he plans to further the goals of the board's vision of mission differentiation, which emphasizes IU as one university with many campuses, rather than a system of schools.\n"I'm going to help regulate each campus' graduate program based on its different mission," he said. \nInterim Provost Michael A. McRobbie lauded Wimbush's goals in a statement.\n"James Wimbush will bring to bear the nation's best practices in graduate education," McRobbie said. "I am confident that he will represent the University's graduate programs to external audiences and funding sources in a way that will bring great benefit to our students and programs"