Dr. Paul Barrett, the dean of the College of Business and Economics at Longwood University, has recently announced his decision to step down as dean to pursue his dream of teaching.
Barrett brought his decision first to Joan Neff, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, and President Reveley in this during the last fall semester. The announcement was made public in early January this year.
Barrett describes his decision as a “leverage point” when his son-in-law suffered from a traumatic experience of a heatstroke during a triathlon this past summer, which resulted in 16 surgeries. This caused Barrett to rethink his time and area in life.
“It’s just time,” Barrett said when asked what caused his decision.
Barrett received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland at College Park, and received his Master’s degree in education in the 1970’s from Towson University and since then has yet to teach. Barrett also received a doctorate from Regent University.
Barrett will have worked at Longwood a total of nine years when he resigns as dean on December 31, 2016.
“(Teaching has) been on my bucket list,” explained Barrett.
In preparation to become a professor at Longwood, Barrett must first complete research and be published in order to teach in the College of Business and Economics. He must also take a sabbatical to brush up on his teaching skills to differentiate from his responsibilities as dean.
“I just have a passion for leadership and leadership values,” said Barrett.
Given that there are two departments in the College of Business and Economics, Barrett discussed how his doctorate and experience will allow him to teach in the Managing and Marketing department, and his license for teaching will also him to teach in the other department.
Barrett explains that he has big plans as far as teaching goes, which directly relates to one of the centers which was founded in 1998, and was brought to Longwood in the last seven years, the SNVC Leadership Institute.
“I will, likely when I’m teaching, step in full-time as director of the (SNVC Leadership) Institute,” Barrett added.
As for the process of picking a new dean, Barrett describes it as being a yearlong process which will include a public search with a search committee. Barrett emphasized he currently has no involvement in the process.
“I’ll do whatever they want me to do,” Barrett said when asked about the involvement he may have in the future.
In a statement sent to The Rotunda, Neff said an ad would be developed for the position which will be published in various higher education publications. This strategy will ensure the ad will only be seen by well-qualified and a diverse pool of potential applicants.
The search committee will then select and conduct interviews with a maximum of 12 applicants. After all the potential applicants have been interviewed, the search committee then selects the top two to four candidates who are then invited to campus for another round of interviews.
With those applicants who are invited to campus, they will meet with various constituencies on campus. These constituencies will voice their opinions on each candidate’s qualifications for the position.
Finally, Neff will take into consideration the opinions of the constituencies and make a final decision for the position.
As for advice for the incoming dean, Barrett suggested taking the first semester or two to learn.
“(The new dean must) understand all the assets certainly regarding faculty and understand all the boards including the alumni board,” explained Barrett.
Barrett describes the College of Business and Economics as “it’s not an island,” meaning there is a necessary cohesiveness which should exist with other colleges and offices at the university.
“The learning curve is significant,” said Barrett.
Barrett will stay in his position as dean through the upcoming vice presidential debate and has plans to involve the College of Business and Economics with the debate.
