REBECCA BURTON
NEWS EDITOR
The search for an incumbent Dean of Science is now underway as Ryerson prepares to establish an independent Faculty of Science this coming Fall.
While the search remains confidential, provost and vice president academic Alan Shepard, who is in charge of the search, said based on Ryerson’s up and coming reputation, they have received a lot of interest so far.
According to President Sheldon Levy, Ryerson will look beyond just its immediate community to cast a wide net to get the very best. The search committee, consisting of six elected members and three appointed, including a graduate student, will sort through the applicants with the final decision left to Shepard. Hired headhunters Laverne Smith and Associates are currently conducting the search.
The Dean will be appointed this coming July or August and will oversee the faculty’s four founding departments: chemistry and biology, computer science, mathematics, and physics, alongside three newly established PhD programs in molecular science, computer science and biomedical physics.
Levy said the university is currently discussing the mechanics of the forthcoming projects including separating the budget from the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science (FEAS ), where the dean’s office will be located and the identification of faculty members that will make the move. Even previously inclusive student awards will now have to be split to suit both faculties.
The incoming faculty is Ryerson’s first in approximately 40 years. Early discussions of establishing the faculty were voiced as far back as 2007. When the program starts in the fall, classes will be held in various rooms on campus, as they are right now, said vice-provost academic Christopher Evans.
In the programs first year, the classes from the previous faculty will continue to be offered with changes being made in subsequent years, said Evans.
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