The St. Thomas Office of the Provost announced four finalists for the Dougherty Family College dean search Monday in an email to St. Thomas community members.
The group of finalists included three who currently work in Minnesota and one who currently works in Michigan. One of the finalists is the current Interim Dean of DFC Buffy Smith.
Each finalist will give a 20-minute presentation during a 60-minute open forum in the Terrence Murphy Hall Thornton Auditorium at St. Thomas’ Minneapolis campus, Executive Vice President and Provost Eddy Rojas wrote in the email. The presentations will be recorded for those unable to attend in-person.
Dougherty Family College, which opened its doors in 2017, is a two-year associate degree program “designed to propel students towards success and provide a smooth transition to a four-year university,” according to the DFC website. Full-time DFC students are mentored by St. Thomas faculty and staff while participating in paid internships.
Current Interim Dean Smith has been at St. Thomas since 2004 and is a professor of sociology and criminal justice. She has more than 10 years of experience researching underrepresented students and navigating the institutional culture of higher education, according to the St. Thomas website. Smith will visit campus April 11-12 and her open forum will be held on Monday, April 11 from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Chief Operating Officer of St. Paul Public Schools Jackie Turner will visit campus April 13-14 and her open forum will be on Wednesday, April 13 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Turner currently oversees operations within several departments in the St. Paul Public Schools, including nutrition services, security and emergency management, facilities and transportation to support the district’s mission of “providing a premier education for all,” according to the St. Paul Public Schools’ website.
The third candidate is Glenn Chambers, associate dean in the Office of the Provost for undergraduate education at Michigan State University. Chambers currently “leads projects associated with the implementation of the new student information system,” according to Michigan State’s website. He will visit campus April 13-14 and his open forum will be on Thursday, April 14 from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Graduate Coordinator for the Master of Arts program in Educational Leadership at Minnesota State-Mankato Bernadeia Johnson will visit campus April 21-22 and her open forum will be on Thursday, April 21 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Johnson received her Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from St. Thomas, and she has since done research on educational leadership, social justice, race, and women and leadership, according to the Minnesota State-Mankato website.
Rojas encouraged students to participate in the open forums and fill out an online survey to provide feedback on the candidates after their presentations.
Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.