The search for a new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences continues after the search committee convened for its initial meeting to discuss and determine qualifications for the position.

Committee chairman Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering, said during a March 3 meeting the group discussed the minimum and desired criteria applicants need to fulfill in order to be considered for the CAS’s top spot. After determining the qualifications, the committee also outlined an announcement that will advertise in various higher education magazines and journals nationwide.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the largest college at USF, consisting of 28 academic departments and 16 centers and institutes. CAS also has about 500 full-time faculty members and serves more than 17,000 students.

According to the announcement, the minimum qualifications for the position include “an earned doctorate, a distinguished record of scholarship and teaching that would qualify the candidate for tenure at the professor level in one of the academic units of the college and administrative experience at or above a department chair in a college or university setting.” Applicants would need to have an “outstanding record of academic leadership, fiscal and human resource management … and a significant achievement in the promotion of diversity and affirmative action/equal opportunity,” among other credentials, the announcement says.

As dean of CAS, the ad states, the person who fills the position will have an overall responsibility for the leadership of the college, which includes strategic planning, program developments for departments and faculty recruitment, just to name a few.

Journals where the announcement will be presented include The Chronicle of Higher Education, Black Issues in Higher Education, Hispanic Outlook and Women in Higher Education, among others.

Dean Martin-Vega said the committee hopes to have gathered enough applications by May 30, when the committee will meet for a second time to review the applications. During the summer, Martin-Vega said, the committee would most likely start contacting possible candidates that will come to USF during the fall semester. During their visits, candidates will meet with faculty and students from the college, the search committee, USF President Judy Genshaft and Provost Renu Khator, who would subsequently choose the candidate who will fill the position.

Martin-Vega said the committee will make its recommendations to Khator by mid to late fall and said he expects the position to be filled by the beginning of January.