After serving for 17 years, Marvin Kaiser, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, notified the university of his retirement. He has asked Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Roy Koch to begin the search for his successor.
“It’s time,” Kaiser said. “I’ve had a good run. Seventeen years is a long time to be a dean.”
While Kaiser is stepping down from the dean position, PSU won’t be losing him altogether. Though nothing is definite, Kaiser said that he will continue exploring various career opportunities at PSU.
“He is simply stepping away from his administrative role,” Koch said.
During his time at Portland State, Kaiser has been a leader in many major successes for the university. According to Kaiser, enrollment in the CLAS doubled during his time at the university and many new undergraduate programs were created.
Additionally, seven doctorate programs were created during Kaiser’s career at PSU—expanding the CLAS to a budget of around $24.5 million.
“[There has] been remarkable growth with funded research under Marvin’s leadership,” Koch said. “He’s paid particular attention to growing that research.”
Before coming to PSU, Kaiser worked at Kansas State University. He said that one of the main reasons he came to PSU “was because of PSU’s commitment to service learning and engagement.”
He explained that one of the main differences he sees in coming from a land grant school to an urban environment is the large amount of community engagement that he has found at PSU. He also mentioned that the amount of civic responsibility at PSU has really impressed him.
In addition to the commitment that PSU has to community and civic engagement, Kaiser has been enthralled with the amount of internationalization it has undergone.
“I find it a joy to be able to work with inter-national students and their families,” he said. “An important part of PSU is its international commitment.”
Though he won’t be involved in the search for his replacement, Kaiser will help with the transition once the new dean has been found.
The search for a new dean has just begun and will continue over the coming months, according to Koch. The university hopes to have a new CLAS dean in place by fall term of 2011. This month, faculty in the CLAS will be working together to create an accurate job description. The next step will be to organize a search committee that will include community members and CLAS faculty.
Because the search for the new dean will take place on a national scale, Koch and members of the committee will also employ the services of a “search firm” to expedite the process and bring even more qualified candidates into the pool, Koch said.
By May, Koch hopes to have three or four candidates narrowed down. After the finalists have been found, interviews will be held for the public and then they will decide on each of the candidates.
“Marvin has some big shoes that need to be filled,” Koch said.
However, he is confident that the search for the new dean will be successful.
“Marvin has created a trajectory for the CLAS,” he said. “Because of what he has done, it is a very attractive position.”
As he steps down from his position as dean of the CLAS, Kaiser hopes that the CLAS, and PSU as a whole, will continue to thrive. In particular, he wishes to see the doctorate programs that he helped to create continue to expand and be successful.
According to Kaiser, in order for PSU to continue growing it must increase student advising and move towards a budget model that “recognizes productivity and efficiency.”
“[PSU must] work more closely with students so that every student has the opportunity to complete what they start here,” Kaiser said.?