Sham of a search
Upon hearing that Anne Meltzer was named the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, your biggest qualm — if you even had one — was probably that she was the third consecutive CAS dean chosen from the department of earth and environmental sciences. How could a department that only boasts 24 majors possibly be so prolific? But now that a scandal has rocked the mountainside in the form of Provost Ron Yoshida’s alleged misconduct in selecting Meltzer, you will probably take a more active interest in the decision.
As a method of damage control, Yoshida apologized during a CAS meeting, which seems an easy way to appear repentant for his actions. The fact that Yoshida admitted to screwing up is a step in the right direction. Still, he has not yet addressed the issue in the eyes of the public — something we should expect, even demand, from someone of his stature — and, unfortunately, we cannot blindly assume that such a statement will be forthcoming.
Of course, the last thing we want to hear is, “This is a personnel matter; there’s no need to comment on it.” That raises suspicion; we hear, “No one should’ve found out.”
Choosing a new dean without the full support of the personnel committee was an incredibly dumb move. It demonstrated poor communication by the administration with the people it is supposed to be representing.
Then there’s the precedent set by this case. It says to students that, yes, you should follow the rules, but use loopholes to ensure that you get the results you want. Is this really the message we want to have entrenched in the minds of more than 1,100 soon-to-be-graduating seniors?
As for the faculty, it’s good to see they’re upset about something. There’s more than likely a stigma associated with criticizing Yoshida and President Gregory Farrington, and even tenure’s safety net can’t provide complete security from the fear of retaliatory actions.
Now it’s obvious that unity among Lehigh’s professors can bring about a reaction from the administration. Ergo, the faculty members should band together more often and stick up for themselves. In the past, all we’ve had are the occasional screamers, people vociferating when one little thing has gone wrong. The faculty should break free from apathy’s shackles by being more vocal, but organization is also key to affecting change.
The dean selection process should also be looked at with scrutiny. For example, the search committee recommended two candidates, one of whom was seen by the administration as an unsuitable choice (for reasons they have not revealed). Nothing has been said about the desirable qualities of a CAS dean, but there’s no justifiable reason why they can’t tell us what we’re looking for — we’d hope the traits they want aren’t so ignoble as to warrant shame for wanting them.
In short, this shouldn’t have happened. The administration committed a misdeed by not making clear to the candidates that this was a worthwhile job. Meltzer’s effectiveness as a dean has also been hurt. Even if she is truly the most qualified person for the job, it is possible that some of those who are upset with how the process was conducted will take their anger out on her. We hope that does not happen.
Yoshida will face the music for his actions but it’s evident that Lehigh needs to be more appealing to prospective employees if we want to avoid this in the future.
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