More than a month since the university announced Dean Rick Marrs would step down next year, Provost Darryl Tippens and President Andrew K. Benton have shelved the search for a new Seaver dean.
During a routine meeting between the provost and dean on Tuesday, Marrs submitted a formal written request for reappointment after the current academic year.
Later that day, Tippens informed the head of the search committee, Dr. Timothy Willis, that the committee would no longer be needed.
Marrs does not know for sure if he will return as dean next year, but he noted that there are only two apparent options: yes or no.
“I’m very grateful to my colleagues for their support and affirmation,” Marrs said.
The turn of events came a day after the Seaver Faculty Association Executive Committee released sweeping results from a faculty vote to call for Marrs’ reappointment. The first resolution, which commended Marrs’ leadership in his five years as dean, passed with 149 approvals, 10 disapprovals and 4 votes abstained. The second resolution calling for Tippens and Benton to consider Marrs for reappointment ended with 143 approvals, 16 disapprovals and 7 votes abstained.
Marrs said his letter to the provost and president was part of the outcome to the first resolution. Now, the decision hinges on the provost.
In the meantime, Tippens said they have reactivated the evaluation process for Marrs that was put on hold earlier this fall.
“I think these actions support the spirit and the intent of the resolutions voted on by the faculty,” Tippens wrote in an email to the Graphic yesterday. “We now will return to the review process, which will be carried out over the coming months. The goal will be to complete the review process no later than the spring. Dean Marrs and I have been in conversation about the next steps.”
In October Dean Marrs surprised the campus when the university announced that he would not seek a new term beyond his five-year tenure. Before that, Marrs unsuccessfully tried to rescind his decision. Tippens, who said last month that he agreed with Marrs’ original decision to step down, made clear that the administration had moved on.
Weeks later, the SFA initiated the online vote to all full-time faculty and librarians.
“I have congratulated Dean Marrs on the strong expression of appreciation he received in the recent Seaver faculty poll. It is certainly a compliment of which he can justly be proud,” Tippens wrote.
Marrs said now the decision is “very much in their court.” He also said he has yet to speak with Benton.
“That’s what’s got to be sort of worked out, but we haven’t worked out any kind of timing or anything like that,” Marrs said yesterday. “That’s where the conversation is.”
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