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FSB's search for a new dean down to two

Kaila Frisone, For The Miami Student

The search for a new dean of Miami University's Farmer School of Business (FSB) has been narrowed down to two candidates: Mary Gowan from Elon University and Kenneth Kavajecz from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Carine Feyten, Miami dean of the school of education, health and society, is the head of the search committee, which was formed fall 2012. According to Feyten, the committee consists of five faculty members, four appointed by FSB, one by the Provost, one undergraduate student selected by the Associated Student Government (ASG), one graduate student selected by the Graduate Student Association and one representative from the Business Advisory Council.

Feyten said the committee conducted seven "airport interviews," interviews with candidates in a hotel near the airport. The committee then recommended candidates to Provost Bobby Gempesaw and President David Hodge.

Gempesaw and Hodge selected the two candidates to visit campus last week. Gowan, a management professor at the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business at Elon University, visited campus March 26. Professor and chair in the Department of Finance at the Wisconsin School of Business, Kavajecz visited campus March 28.

Both candidates had the opportunity to talk with students and answer questions. The students inquired about each candidate's qualifications and what he or she would do to improve areas they thought needed improvement. Talking points included improving academic advising, building more study abroad programs, expanding job and internship opportunities, establishing more corporate partnerships, developing J-term programs and coursework, furthering business-related co-curricular activities and promoting diversity.

Junior accounting student Sam Korach attended both sessions last week. He said Gowan had many ideas and goals for the J-term, but he said he had concerns.

"I just don't know if she understood Miami's culture enough," Korach said.

Kavajecz said Thursday there are three duties of a dean that are particularly important: fundraising, setting a strategy and putting a culture together.

"There's strength here," Kavajecz said. "That's why I think I can be a good asset to it because I can build off of that. I've done some things that I think we can leverage."

He said that it is important for students to realize that the co-curricular activities in a business school, in addition to what happens in the classroom, are vital to success.

David Wang, a senior finance student, also attended both sessions last week. He said he noticed significant variation between Gowan and former dean of FSB Roger Jenkins.

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"The striking differences in leadership qualities are very apparent," Wang said.

According to Feyten, the committee managed to bring strong candidates to campus and they are giving careful consideration to the comments and concerns students made after attending last week's sessions.

"We didn't make any comparisons," Feyten said. "Every [candidate] is different. We tried to find the best person for the position."

Feyten said the Provost and President will make the ultimate decision with some consultation from the Chair of the FSB Board of Visitors, Richard Farmer. It is not yet known when a final decision will be made.

Feyten said she is pleased with the commitment of the members of the committee and the challenge always is to bring the best candidates to campus.

"It was a lot of work, but was very rewarding in the sense of working with professionals who are really committed to the school," Feyten said. "The idea was to really build on the success of that already being achieved."