In 2022, the college is expected to see the deans of the four departments retire, making for a unique transition for the school during an already busy year with campus closures and reopening.
As the deans prepare to retire in the upcoming year, the search for qualified candidates is being considered by a selection committee consisting of faculty, management and student representation.
John Tebay is the Dean of Fine Arts; Dan Willoughby is the Dean of Humanities; Mark Greenhalgh is the Dean of Mathematics and Computer Science, and Bridget Salzameda is the Interim Dean of Natural Sciences. They are the current faculty who oversee the departments and who will be retiring due to an early incentive program NOOCCD offers.
The committee is in the final stages of selecting the interim dean for Humanities, the largest division at Fullerton College and the Fine Arts Division.
The substantial amount of deans retiring at one time is a unique situation, Interim President at Fullerton College, Gilbert Contreas said.
The goal is to select a candidate to replace Tebay and Willoughby by Jan. 1, 2022.
Greenhalgh extended his retirement to June of 2022.
“When a dean retires, it’s important to hear input from the departments and the divisions that report to the dean. We went around and met with the Mathematics/Computer Science, Fine arts, Humanities Divisions and shared the large scale of number of deans retiring and how we wanted to stagger the recruitments so we don’t have all the recruitments happening at the same time,” said Contreas.
To not overwhelm faculty with half of the instructional deans leaving, delaying the recruitment process went into consideration.
“This is close to half of the instructional deans so the other half are going to have to be in these hiring committees so we wanted to make sure we had a feasible approach to replace these deans,” said Contreas.
This provides the opportunity for faculty to experience leadership positions in selection committees, as department chairs or coordinators.
A dean’s role within the community college system is important to help navigate the school’s mission for student success and to create a vision for the department to showcase. Implementing policies that assist diverse populations with varied needs and acting as an instructional leader for
Contreas celebrated the success the previous deans achieved, such as Tebay for being a great resource to the community in being receptive to the ‘external and internal communities’ of Fullerton College in his array of fine arts performances.
Willoughby was also acknowledged for his professionalism and courtesy in working with incoming deans to navigate the school system.
Finding a candidate who will be an ‘Innovative leader that will bring people together and who is diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility-minded, is Contreas hopes for the recruitment process for dean.
