The search is on for the right person to fill the role as dean of the College of Business Administration.

“It’s funny. For a job like this, sometimes you find the right candidate because they’re looking for a job and checking the job listings,” Interim Dean Kathryn Wilson said. “A lot of times, though, the best person for a job is someone who may not know they’re interested in switching.”

When Dean Robert Heisler retired in October 2011, Wilson filled the position as interim dean. After serving as dean for nearly a year, Wilson is ready to settle back into her love of economics.

“I love being an economics professor. I have enjoyed being interim dean. It’s been challenging. It’s been fascinating. I get to work with wonderful people. There are parts of the job I really like, but there aren’t very many people who get to wake up in the morning and do the job they absolutely love,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to give that up.”

A 12-person committee consisting of faculty, an undergraduate student and a graduate student was put together to help in the search. The chairman of the committee is Dean Daniel Mahony of the College and Graduate School of Education, Health and Human Services.

The process of hiring a new dean was originally hindered during the search for Kent State’s Provost Todd Diacon. Now that he is settled, the pursuit has started to make more progress.

“A lot of times incoming deans want to know who the provost is going to be,” Mahony said. “We’ve delayed this search a little bit, so that we would have a new provost in place before we did the dean search for business.”

An ad outlining duties, responsibilities and qualifications for the position was placed in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“Relationship-building skills are really important. Someone who understands what it means to be at a state institution. Someone who will move the College of Business forward so it will be as successful as possible,” said Marie Yeh, a teaching fellow in the department of marketing and entrepreneurship who serves on the hiring committee.

One after another, applications came in, but now it’s time for the hiring committee to narrow down the list.

The committee reviewed the applications and will select contenders for airport interviews, meaning the interviewees fly in, interview for a couple hours and then fly out. Three or four possible candidates will then be selected to come to campus to meet faculty, staff and students for the final round of interviews. It is a long process, but the wait is worth finding quality candidates, Yeh said.

“Hiring the right person is more important than hiring someone fast,” Wilson said.

Contact Mary Kate Garvey at [email protected].