The second listening session for the next College of Agriculture and Life Sciences dean was held Friday afternoon.

David Spalding, dean of the Ivy College of business, and Guru Rao, associate vice president for research, are the co-chairs of the search and also lead the listening session. The open forum was also broadcasted off campus and community members could send in questions via chat room or email.

Before opening up to audience questions, Rao emphasized that there is a multitude of qualities outside of a resume that the search committee is looking for, including a genuine passion and caring for the Iowa State community.

“What we want to keep in mind is the best candidate is not just a candidate who has the qualifications…it’s a lot more than that,” Rao said.

The listening session was mainly consisted of party members from the search committee and numerous faculty throughout the college.

Shelley Taylor, who works in study abroad and global resource systems within CALS, hopes the next dean continues to keep the international aspect of the college at the front of their mind.

“We have had tremendous support form the previous administration…I would love to see that support continue, and see global engagement at the top of their priority list,” Taylor said.

When looking at candidates, Spalding said that the way they present themselves and their platforms in writing through their initial application will be critical.

“The Cover letter is going to be key,” Spalding said.

Angela Shaw, associate professor and extension specialist of food microbiology/food safety in the department of food science and nutrition, hopes that in the search, agriculture won’t be the only focal point when it comes to experience. 

“I always hear agriculture, agriculture and we miss the life sciences side,” Shaw said. “So I hope that in the discussion we are talking about the medical, the human being part of it, and the nature of the candidate doesn’t just have a traditional farming background.”

Nominations have been coming in since the announcement of the search on January 18th. Looking ahed, If an applicant’s cover letter and cv are in by July 13th, they will be put in consideration or the position. From there, 8-12 candidates will be interviewed in the middle of August.

Although it will be confidential during that round of interviews who is being considered, the 4 candidates that become finalists for the position will be publicly invited to campus in September. Each candidate will hold a public forum and be interviewed, with a final decision hopefully to be announced at the end of September.

CUTLINES:

Twitter:“What we want to keep in mind is the best candidate is not just a candidate who has the qualifications…it’s a lot more than that,” Rao said.

Facebook: After the first listening session held on Monday night, Co-chairs David Spalding, dean of the Ivy College of business, and Guru Rao, associate vice president for research, hosted a second session for the CALS dean search Friday afternoon.