Ball State's College of Communication, Information and Media hasn't had an official dean since July, but that will change in the next few weeks, a university official said.
Two candidates for the position of CCIM dean will visit the university during the next two weeks to speak with acting dean Michael Holmes and other officials, said Jean Amman, presidential representative of the Dean Search Committee.
Jon Petrovich, who has held positions at CNN and Sony, will visit Ball State tonight and remain on campus until Thursday. The second dean candidate, Roy Moore, an associate dean at the University of Kentucky, will arrive at the university Monday evening and will stay until March 10.
"Both candidates have a number of groups and individuals they need to see," Amman said. "We try to put the candidates into a meeting-type situation where they meet people they would be working with if they are hired."
Petrovich will be speaking at a public forum at 1 p.m. Thursday at Bracken Library Room 225, said Ray Montagno, chair of the Dean Search Committee.
Amman said the public forums are open to questions from all Ball State students, faculty and the Muncie community.
"During the forums, the candidate will tell a little about himself," Amman said. "We encourage the public to ask about his professional qualifications, why they are interested in the college and Ball State, and what their vision for the college is."
In addition to the the open forums, Amman said both candidates will spend about two hours in each of the college's four departments: the Department of Telecommunications, Department of Journalism, Department of Communication Studies and the Center for Information and Communication Sciences.
The candidates will also meet with the departments' chairs, faculty, staff and all other academic deans on campus, Amman said.
Holmes took his position after former dean Scott Olson left for a job as provost at Minnesota State University at Mankado last summer.
While at Ball State, Petrovich and Moore will also meet with acting president Beverly Pitts, Montagno and the rest of the Dean Search Committee. Evaluation sheets are also available to anyone who meets the candidates and wants to provide their opinion about them, Amman said. These evaluations can be picked up from and returned to the provost's office.
"We want alumni and people from the professional fields that the College of Communication, Information and Media represents to be a part of the process however they are able," Amman said.
After both candidates leave the university, she said the committee will review the candidates and read through the evaluations. It will then recommend a candidate to the provost depending on whether he is qualified and acceptable.
The new dean will have a lot of responsibility with professional and budgetary matters and must work well with others and be someone the faculty can respect, Amman said.
"The provost really makes the decision since she is the chief academic officer," Montagno said. "The committee is just advisory. Our goal is to learn as much as we can about the candidates and their vision for the college and see if that goes along with the vision the rest of the faculty has for the college."
Montagno said the committee, which includes two students and representatives from all the departments in the College of Communication, Information and Media and a media company, has done a good job in handling the complex process.
"We're pretty confident because we have highly motivated and skilled people on the committee," Montagno said. "The purpose of the committee is to have a number of different viewpoints to look at the candidates from different angles."
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