July 7, 2005
Search on for new dean of iSchool
A search committee is currently looking for candidates for the position of dean of the UW’s Information School. Current Dean Michael Eisenberg has announced he will step down at the end of 2005.
Acting Provost David Thorud said in his charging letter to the committee that he and President Mark Emmert had decided on an internal search for the next dean. “We know we have tremendous talent within the University and feel confident that we will succeed with this approach,” Thorud wrote.
Committee chair Pat Wasley, dean of the College of Education, said nominations should be sent over the summer because the screening of applications begins Sept. 15, and that top candidates will be chosen to meet with the committee in October. The committee hopes to have a new dean in place by Jan. 1, 2006.
The Information School, formerly the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, continues to offer the master’s degree for librarians and law librarians. However, it also offers a bachelor’s degree in informatics and a doctorate in information science. A new master’s in information management was recently added.
Among the duties of the new dean, the committee lists strengthening and growing degree programs, fostering a strong research culture and articulating “a vision of public advocacy, diversity, community collaborations and partnerships.” A complete description of the post is found on the committee’s Web site, http://www.ischool.washington.edu/deansearch/.
Eisenberg has been at the UW since 1998, and during that time presided over the transformation and renaming of the school. He said that a heart attack last winter (from which he has recovered) figured in his decision to step down from the deanship, but he also feels the components of a 10-year plan he had in mind when he came have been accomplished and that this is a good time for him to turn over the reins to someone else.
Since Eisenberg’s arrival, the iSchool — formerly a graduate school only — has created a bachelor’s program and added a doctoral program and an additional master’s program. There are 150 students in the bachelor’s program and the master’s in library science has more than doubled, from 150 students to 350, including a distance learning component.
“We are one of the top schools in the country,” Eisenberg said. “In addition to our educational programs, we have 28 research projects under way with total funding of $2 to 3 million.”
Eisenberg noted that he had never before been “just” a professor — at his previous university he was director of the Information Institute — so it would be a transition for him to only be responsible for himself. He plans to continue his research in information and technology literacy and has been thinking about writing a book for the non-academic audience tentatively titled The I Word: Information in Everyday Life.
“I love the University of Washington,” Eisenberg said. “Being the dean of the Information School has been the highlight of my professional career. And I want to be part of the school’s future.”
Anyone wanting to nominate someone for the dean’s post should send the person’s name, current position and contact information to Wasley at Box 353600 or issearch@u.washington.edu. Other relevant information concerning the nominee’s background and qualifications should be included with the nomination.
