Prospective medical school deans invited to visit WMU campus

By Krystin Nichols
Western Herald

Western Michigan University’s search for a founding dean of the medical school has moved into its second phase, as candidates, screened by the search committee, were invited to town for formal interviews and to look at the community’s resources.

The position of founding dean for the school, which has been the subject of a search since late February, has proven extraordinarily attractive to candidates from around the nation, said Dr. Jack Luderer, interim dean of the new school and chair of the search committee.

“We are now in the early part of the interview phase, and have not yet made a final decision regarding the final list of applicants we would like to interview,” Luderer said.

“Of the many excellent applicants, we are working to identify someone who is the best match for this unique position in southwest Michigan.”

Executive Director of University Relations, Cheryl Roland said, “We are very pleased about the large number of good candidates that came to light as part of the dean search; we are also still receiving inquiries about the position.”

The seven-member search committee, which includes communitywide representation, has been sorting through the credentials and backgrounds of more than 60 candidates who are interested in the position.

Preliminary screening has narrowed the number of candidates for a first round of private visits to the community that will take place over the coming weeks.

“We went into the search expecting to see the names of 15-20 good candidates surface,” Luderer said.

“But the caliber of both the community and the partners in the enterprise as well as the description of the position itself has resulted in a far larger pool of outstanding professionals.”

“This will take a bit longer than originally anticipated, and our focus will continue to be on finding the right match. Judging from the outstanding candidates in the mix, though,I have great confidence that we’ll be successful.”

This search is at a confidential stage, so a public schedule of visits will not be announced until late in the summer or early fall.

Progress on other fronts for the founding of a medical school continues, as an early organizational structure is formalized and working committees formed. A steering committee has been meeting regularly.

The committee consists of Luderer and the three founding organizations’ leaders–WMU President John M. Dunn, Borgess President and CEO Paul A. Spaude and Bronson President and CEO Frank Sardone.

In addition to the search committee, there is a new communications committee responsible for building awareness and communicating about the initiative.

In mid-July, a committee to focus on facilities will be launched and soon after, a curriculum will be formed.

The goal is to have both committees in place so that they are ready to move quickly once the founding dean is on board.

A school of medicine in Kalamazoo has been under discussion and in the planning stage since late 2007. During a November 2009 meeting, the WMU Board of Trustees endorsed the steps taken to date and voiced its support for the proposal.

During that meeting, Dunn announced a $1.8 million anonymous gift made to provide seed money for the next steps in the development process.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=18370

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jul 25 2010. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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