The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service has temporarily suspended its search for a new dean, members of the search committee have confirmed.
The search, which began following Dean Robert Hollister's announcement in September that he would retire at the end of the current academic year, has been postponed due to impending changes in university leadership.
Provost and Senior Vice President Jamshed Bharucha, in an e−mail statement released to the Daily yesterday by Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler, said that he will soon appoint an interim dean to serve in the position until the search committee appoints Hollister's permanent successor.
The committee made public their decision to adjourn on Tisch College's website.
"We have suspended the search for a new Dean of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service," the committee statement reads. "An announcement regarding the appointment of an interim dean will be made in the coming weeks."
In his statement, Bharucha said that he plans to name an interim head of the College, presumably before his time at Tufts ends. Bharucha will leave Tufts at the end of the semester to assume the presidency at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York; his own successor has not yet been named.
"Dean Hollister has served with distinction as the inaugural dean of Tisch College," Bharucha said in the statement. "We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition to his successor."
Bharucha's impending departure was a contributed to the decision to suspend the search, members of the committee confirmed.
Senior Caitlin Payne, the only student on the search committee, said yesterday that in light of the coming departures of both Bharucha and University President Lawrence Bacow, it made more sense to wait until their successors take over to resume the dean search.
Payne suggested that the search committee may not resume its work until the new provost is in office. The search committee felt that it "would be best to have the new leadership have their input in the selection of the dean," she said.
A representative from Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, the executive search firm involved in the dean search, declined comment, citing the search's ongoing status.
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by Matt Repka
