The search for a new Liberal Arts and Sciences dean took a step forward when the 22-member search committee finished forming a position statement. The statement will allow the search committee to advertise the position to potential candidates.

The search committee for the new dean is headed by the Dean of the College of Design Mark Engelbrecht, and has been searching for a replacement for former LAS dean Peter Rabideau since early October. An open forum held October 16 yielded input from students and faculty about what characteristics the new dean should possess.

The position statement generated by the search committee was strongly influenced by the forum, Engelbrecht said. Two of the major characteristics that most people are looking for in the new dean are commitment and leadership, he said.

According to the statement, the new dean would be “responsible for advancing excellence by setting the vision for the college,” and would also be required to have “successful administrative and leadership experience.”

Commitment to the university was another main concern at the forum, which is something that Engelbrecht said will be addressed during the search.

“We are looking for finalists who seem to have an interest in building something long-term,” Engelbrecht said, noting the last two LAS deans at Iowa State have left for positions at the University of Colorado and Mississippi State University.

Engelbrecht said recently raised funding concerns may affect the search, but they will not stop it.

Uncertainty about funding for the College of LAS and the university in general has appeared because of the recent 2.5 percent across-the-board cut in state funding and shortfalls in tuition revenue, which combined to result in an $8.3 million cut in the ISU budget.

“The situation is less than certain right now, and there will undoubtedly be wary of it, but we are going full steam ahead on this search,” Engelbrecht said. “We will have a dean for the College of LAS for next year.”

Susan Carlson, associate provost and search committee member, said the provost has made a commitment to the LAS college that will not waver.

“Budget cuts are there in the background, [but] the provost has decided this is an important college and an important search and we need to have a dean who can help the position move ahead,” Carlson said.

Engelbrecht said the cuts in funding are complicating the dean search and possibly making the position less desirable, but Iowa State is not alone in facing this problem.

“We are not unique in this,” he said.

“This has been going on everywhere for the past three or four years. This is just real life for big universities these days.