The Baylor Executive Vice President and Provost’s Office has announced faculty and staff members chosen to serve on the Education Dean Search Committee. Dr. Jon Engelhardt, dean of the Baylor School of Education for the past seven years, has announced his intent to retire at the end of the 2014-15 school year.

SOE Dean Search committee members include: Dr. Michael Matier (chair), Vice Provost for Institutional Effectiveness; Dr. Sandi Cooper, Associate Professor, Curriculum & Instruction; Dr. Terrill Saxon, Associate Professor & Chair-elect, Educational Psychology; Dr. Rishi Sriram, Assistant Professor, Educational Administration; Dr. Tony Talbert, Professor & Assistant Chair, Curriculum & Instruction; Dr. Trena Wilkerson, Professor & Graduate Program Director, Curriculum & Instruction; SOE staff member Katy Wiswall, Financial & Grants Manager; SOE student Elena Lopez, Doctoral Candidate, Curriculum & Teaching; outside faculty member Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez, Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director, Journalism, Public Relations & New Media, College of Arts & Sciences; and academic dean Dr. Robyn Driskell, Divisional Dean for Humanities & Social Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences.

Dr. Tricia Tolbert, Director of Assessment & Compliance, Institutional Effectiveness, will serve as the committee’s search manager, facilitating the day-to-day operations of the search.

“The committee will begin meeting at the outset of the fall semester and will quickly work to develop a position announcement,” Matier said. “We plan to move the search forward expeditiously as we seek to identify and recruit an outstanding dean to build on the exceptional leadership provided by Dean Engelhardt.”

The initial tasks of the search committee will be to draft a position announcement that describes the characteristics sought in a new dean, and with the assistance of the School’s faculty, staff, students and alumni, to begin to build a deep, diverse and robust pool of potential prospects.

The search will be national in scope, considering promising candidates both from within the university and beyond. The committee will seek out qualified candidates, and their academic credentials and leadership potential will be screened. A small group of finalists will then be invited to campus for a series of interviews with groups of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends.

The final stages of the search will remain confidential as the committee considers feedback from all those who meet with the final candidates. Based on input from interview groups, the search committee will present recommendations of individuals suitable to assume the dean’s position.

In consultation with Baylor President Ken Starr, interim provost Dr. David Garland will select the next dean from among the finalists presented by the committee. Garland and Starr will jointly recommend the chosen candidate to the Board of Regents for ratification.

Updates about the dean search process will be posted on the Dean of the School of Education Search website.

Suggestions about what qualities should be sought in the next dean are encouraged at this time. Recommendations, comments and concerns will remain confidential throughout the search process. To contact the committee, please email EdDeanSearch@baylor.edu.