The search for the next associate dean for Extension and Outreach in the College of Human Sciences has been extended to April 15, 2013.

Cathann Kress, vice president for extension and outreach, and Pamela White, dean of the College of Human Sciences, are spearheading the search of candidates that will help to develop their vision of extension and outreach for the college.

“Cathann and I thought quite a bit about how we wanted this position to look,” White said, “and what was important for us is that we expand in what is happening currently to make sure that it encompasses all areas of the college.”

Nancy Franz, current associate dean of Extension and Outreach is taking on the new role of director of professional and organizational development.

“She’s currently the associate dean for extension to families,” White said. “She’s moving to the central university extension, so that vacates the position here. We took that as an opportunity to redefine what that position encompassed.”

Kress explained that in the past, Extension and Outreach has been focused on only select departments within the College of Human Sciences.

“Our previous associate dean had done such a good job of connecting with different departments in the college, and more and more of them wanted to be part of extension and outreach,” Kress said.

Similar Extension and Outreach positions are found in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Engineering and the College of Design.

“In those colleges, in fact that was what Dean White noticed, those associate deans work across all departments. It was only in the College of Human Sciences that we were more limited,” Kress said.

Kress and White link this lack of extension and outreach in the College of Human Sciences to historical factors.

“It was just the way the position was funded in the past, but now we’re looking to the future,” White said. “We could have Extension and Outreach that could happen in every area of our college, so why don’t we extend the position so that we can represent everyone in the college?”

A nationwide search for potential candidates is being conducted by an 11-member search committee.

“They really are a search committee, not a selection committee,” Kress explained. “So they’ve been very busy the last several weeks trying to identify potential candidates to encourage them to apply.”

Various leaders across campus, as well as leaders across the state of Iowa, comprise this search committee, including representatives from county extension councils, faculty within the College of Human Sciences and those in similar roles, like Timothy Borich, associate dean for extension and outreach for the College of Design.

“We were really trying to think about constituencies that would work with this new associate dean,” Kress said.

Both Kress and White said that they are excited about the evolution of extension and outreach in the College of Human Sciences.

“I think that it really will raise the visibility of the College of Human Sciences,” Kress said. “I just think it’s a terrific opportunity and kind of a win-win for everybody.”

Kress explained that Iowa’s counties will benefit from extension and outreach by having access to information that they may not have had in the past, and faculty, as well as students, will be advantaged by opportunities for outreach.

“We have a lot of internship opportunities out in our counties and there are lots of opportunities for research projects and other types of activities like that,” Kress said. “So everybody, I think, is going to come out better as a result of this evolution.”