Professors call for new Dean of Technology

With technology's expanding role at the University, a Dean of Technology has become increasingly necessary, professors say. Although Tufts once had an employee similar to a technology dean, Gregory Crane and Sara Lewis, who are both members of the Computer Facilities and Usage Committee (CFUC), stress the need to rapidly find a replacement.

An unidentified source on the CFUC said it is likely a new dean will be hired in the future, at least on a part-time basis. The source said that the CUFC had come under pressure from faculty and administrators to fill the position.

According to proponents of the post, the University needs one person who will oversee its numerous aspects of technology. The person "spend a lot of time running around and have the big picture all in one brain," Crane said.

The former Dean of Information Technology and Libraries, David McDonald, left Tufts in 1998, and the position has remained vacant since then. In the meantime, two or three administrators on campus that are trying to fill the void left by McDonald, Crane said. He said Vice President of Information Technology Bruce Metz has done an admirable job maintaining the strong network left by McDonald.

The University has "done a pretty good job of keeping up" with technology, Lewis said, but nevertheless it is necessary to delegate one person who can coordinate it all because there are so many meetings and "disparate entities" related to technology at Tufts.

There are several explanations as to why the University has not hired someone to replace McDonald. Funding presents a major challenge: and a new administrator would have to be effective enough to warrant the extra salary, Crane said. A new salary also diverts money from other programs.

Finding a suitable candidate for the position also presents difficulties, since not many people are qualified for the specific job. According to Crane, there are few people presently at the University who have the energy and time to serve as technology dean.

The slow progress may also be attributed to the lack of concurring opinion among faculty and administrators, Lewis said. As Crane explained, a "warm consensus" is required among faculty before anything will happen.

Both professors, however, are hopeful that the new administration will be more proactive in the search for a technology dean. Provost Jamshed Bharucha, new to the University this year, has demonstrated a strong interest in the initiative. Executive Administrative Dean Wayne Bouchard has also been an important advocate of a new technology dean.

Since technology is a very difficult area to keep up-to-date, Tufts is not necessarily behind other Universities because it lacks a central coordinator for technology. But there is an "immense opportunity cost in not having [a technology dean]," Crane said.