The second candidate for the dean position in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences fostered laughter and discussion during an open forum with students, staff and faculty Monday.

Faculty and staff gathered Monday to hear Michael Whiteford, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, discuss his accomplishments within the college, key issues that face the college and his plans for its future.

“We participate in a handful of interdisciplinary majors at the undergraduate and graduate level,” Whiteford said.

“Regardless of the major or the college that you are in, nobody can graduate from ISU without taking basic courses in our college.”

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences affects everyone on campus, Whiteford said. Last year the college taught more than 50 percent of all the credit hours earned, he said.

“We are the heart of the university,” Whiteford said. “You cannot have a good university without a solid, comprehensive College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.”

Whiteford said he is working to make the campus a more welcoming environment to current and potential faculty, staff and students.

“We need to continue to be aggressive in making the campus climate inviting to women and under-represented groups,” Whiteford said.

During his time as interim dean, Whiteford has established a diversity task force to cultivate diversity on campus.

“I convened this group and gave it its charge,” Whiteford said.

“This group has been working hard to develop some diversity guidelines for the college that will lay out the challenges and the goals that will keep us on track to becoming a truly diverse college. By that, we are talking about gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and social class.”

Study abroad, work abroad and service learning experiences should be taken advantage of by students more often, he said.

Whiteford said he would like to see the university recruit more international students and teach more international subjects “that transcend the political and cultural orders that we live in.”

He said the college is in its final stages in doing reviews for department and faculty awards.

“It is really a humbling process to see the talent that we have in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” Whiteford said. “We simply do not give enough awards; we don’t give enough recognition for a college of our size.”

Whiteford has been at Iowa State since 1972 when he became an assistant professor of anthropology. In 2001, he became the associate dean of administrative affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and later became interim dean of the college in 2003 after Peter Rabideau left for Mississippi State.

Since the search is still in an intermediate phase, faculty and staff at Monday’s forum said they preferred not to comment until after the two remaining candidates had completed their campus visits.