Thibodeaux Named Acting Dean of New College

Terry Thibodeaux, former associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named interim dean for the newly formed College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The new college will encompass the psychology/philosophy, family/consumer sciences, history, mass communication, English/foreign language, political science, sociology and speech communication departments. The decision to form the new college has been discussed by the faculty for over three years.

Many within the faculty felt that the College of Arts and Sciences was becoming too expansive and that some restructuring was needed.

"The arts and sciences college had over 20 departments. It was getting too large for its own good," said Thibodeaux. "However, even with the split, arts and sciences is still the university's largest college."

Thibodeaux will maintain the temporary position of interim dean until a permanent replacement is found.

Until that time, however, Thibodeaux is commissioned with getting the new college up and running in time for the fall semester. His tasks lie in developing policies, setting operating procedures in place, getting the office up and running and selecting associate deans.

"We have immediately begun the process of configuring our new staff position," said Thibodeaux. "We hope to have everything place by the fall semester." The biggest challenge ahead, Thibodeaux said, lies in "hiring good people for the office and dean positions. Overall we are trying to get the best dean we can and get the college off to a good start."

The policies Thibodeaux referred to are "typical policies" that deal with how things such as class overloading, adding/dropping of classes and suspensions are addressed. Thibodeaux did emphasize that the moving of several of the aforementioned departments would not affect things such as degree plans in any way.

"We will be making some changes, but no degree plans will be affected. Students will just have to report to a different office," he said. Furthermore, Thibodeaux believes that, aside from the new name, students shouldn't even notice any of the changes being made.

"They (students) probably won't see much change at all," he said. "The faculty will hopefully see more of a responsiveness from the dean's office, as there will be less of a load for them to deal with, but I don't see much change happening at all (regarding students)."

Provost David Payne chose Thibodeaux for the interim position based on his "broad experience" as a dean.

"(Dr. Thibodeaux) has been an associate dean for many years, and he is well acquainted with most of the departments," said Payne. "He has had a broad experience and has some very good ideas."

Payne went on to comment, "Dr. Thibodeaux will provide strong experience and leadership in bringing the diverse elements of the new college together to form a smoothly unified new college while we conduct a national search for a new dean. I am delighted that he has accepted the offer."

Thibodeaux expressed his anticipation regarding his new position and the challenges ahead.

"Really, I'm excited. There's a definite sense of excitement among the staff," he said. "Hopefully, with the move, we will move together and make the university better as a whole."

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Story by Houstonian Reporter Stewart Smith

SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
April 6, 2004
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