Dean of Students Dione Somerville has accepted a position at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, according to the Bloomsburg University website.

The website reports that Somerville will be the vice president for student affairs beginning in July. The position has been vacant since the death of Preston Herring, its previous holder.

Somerville has been the dean of students at Iowa State since January 2007. Earlier this month, it was announced that Somerville was a finalist for the position of vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Somerville was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Vice President of Student Affairs Tom Hill said Wednesday that he is happy for Somerville.

“She’s moving from dean of students to vice president of Student Affairs,” Hill said. “That’s a great career move for her.”

With Somerville’s departure, Iowa State must find a new dean of students. Hill is in charge of finding her replacement. He said the search for the new dean of students is still in the planning stages.

“We’re trying to do an assessment to determine what the needs are, put some things together,” Hill said.

Hill explained that, when looking for a proper candidate, he looks for someone who understands and can relate to Iowa State students. He also said that due to the complexity of the position, it may take a while to find Somerville’s replacement.

“The job’s a pretty complex position, so we really need to be thoughtful and careful of the search process and those sort of things,” Hill said. “We will be very diligent about getting a good person to be the dean of students.”

Hill said that he does not expect to find a new dean of students before the fall semester begins in August. Until a new dean of students is in place, a interim dean will hold the position.

“We will clearly be very conscious about not having things fall through the cracks in the interim period, between [the time when] Dione Somerville departs and the time we name a new dean,” Hill said. “That period is very critical, I understand that, and we will be very clear about having things not fall through the cracks during that period.”

The interim dean of students has yet to be named.

Keep reading the Daily for updates as this story develops.