If everything goes as planned, the College of Agriculture will have a new dean for the fall 2002 semester.

The current agriculture dean, Richard Ross, plans to resign in June.

“I took this position on request of the provost,” said Ross, who stepped into the position in July 2000. “I was going to retire at the time.”

Alicia Carriquiry, search committee member, said the search for a new dean is nearing its final stages.

“We have had a very successful search,” she said.

The 18-member dean search committee has narrowed down the list of applicants for the position to a short list, said Carriquiry, associate provost and professor of statistics.

“What’s going to happen next is we will invite those candidates on the short list for off-campus, confidential interviews,” she said. “The committee will talk to the candidates and the names of all acceptable applicants will then be forwarded to the president and the provost.”

An open campus interview will then be set up for these remaining individuals in October, Carriquiry said.

“There will be open sessions and campus forums – lots of opportunities for students to show up and grill the candidates,” she said.

If all goes well, the president and the provost should be able to make an offer to a candidate by mid-November, Carriquiry said, allowing the individual to take steps toward moving to Iowa State.

“We’d like to have the new dean overlap with the current dean at least for a month or two, so it’d be nice to have them here by May,” she said.

But, depending on who is hired, the individual might not be able to get here until later in the summer, Carriquiry said. The institution of a new dean will complete a two-year search by the College of Agriculture and a yearlong search by the committee, she said.

According to the provost Web site, applicants for the position must have a doctoral degree and be distinguished scholarly with accomplishments equal to a tenured professorship in one of the university’s departments.

In addition, the candidate must be able to communicate a vision for the research, teaching, extension and outreach missions of a land-grant university internally and externally among other things, according to the Web site.

Ross said he has been pleased with the experience as the agriculture dean.

“I’ve enjoyed it immensely, and I feel a lot of kinship with the department,” he said. “I’ve really liked working with the faculty, students and staff.”

Ross said he isn’t exactly sure what he will do at the end of his term in June. He said he has considered teaching, getting back into research and retiring.

“It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, because I do,” he said, “but it’s time for me to move on and step down.”