Larry Singell chosen as new dean of COAS

Almost a year after the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences resigned, a replacement has finally been found.

Larry Singell Jr. has been appointed to dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at IU-Bloomington.

Singell, the associate dean for social sciences at the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon, will begin July 1 as long as the IU Board of Trustees confirms this appointment.

“I was very pleased,” Singell said. “IU is a great university, and the College of Arts and Sciences is really the heart of a great university. It is a great opportunity.”

As dean, Singell said he has a lot of goals, including developing structure, policy and community with all the components that make up the college.

“This will allow (students) to do the best work that they can do,” he said. “And that is really what I hope to set up with that kind of infrastructure so that the college can achieve its full potential.”

Singell said he has spent a good part of his career examining the issues that are facing universities, particularly large public research universities.

“Each institution has its own particular issues, and I am going to have to learn those,” he said. “It is not a perfect panacea but it is a good start.”

As associate dean at Oregon, Singell said he has experience being able to manage faculty in his division.

“I have a lot of experience in that background but I have a lot to learn,” he said.“IU is a very big university, much bigger than the University of Oregon, so that is definitely going to be a very steep learning curve.”

 “I am very confident that the staff in the dean’s office will be able to help me get up to speed in all the things I need to know.”

Although his schedule is still in the planning phase, Singell said he is preparing to make a couple of visits to campus and get to work with the people in the dean’s office.
“I am going to try and schedule my campus visits around meetings with faculty and staff of the dean’s office to get a sense of what I need to do there but also begin to meet important parties to the college,” he said.

Singell said he is looking forward to meeting the students because he hasn’t been able to while visiting IU.

“That is one part of my visit that I did not have that much of an opportunity and students are why we are here,” he said.