Wednesday, January 25, 2006
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University's College of Arts and Sciences isn't getting a new dean -- at least not anytime soon.
Dr. Robert K. Herbert, YSU provost, said the university made an offer to one of four finalist candidates for the job just before Christmas and that candidate came back for a second campus visit in January but then declined the offer.
The candidate's home institution made a better counteroffer, Herbert said.
Dr. Ikram Khawaja, retired professor of geological and environmental sciences, has been serving as interim dean of the college since Dr. Robert Bolla resigned the post in June 2005 to take a position at Bradley University in Illinois.
Herbert said Khawaja has agreed to stay on as interim dean for another year, and the university will begin another nationwide search for a permanent appointee this fall.
YSU received 45 applications for the post and narrowed the list to four, including two current YSU professors, before making a final selection.
Herbert declined to reveal to whom the employment offer was made.
"We're disappointed not to have a permanent dean, but everyone has such confidence in Dean Khawaja," he said.
The university will delay its new search until fall as it is difficult to recruit a new dean at mid-year, Herbert said. A fall search is likely to attract a larger list of candidates, he said.