Departing Deans Transition to New Roles
July 09, 2007
Deans Dan Morris and Joe Graf say goodbye to their current positions and consider what opportunities their new ventures will bring with the merging of various departments into the new College of Arts and Sciences.
Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Letters and Professor of French Dan Morris has spent the last 25 years at Southern Oregon University with this last year concentrating on his position as interim dean. In his time as a dean, Morris has focused on the budget reduction process by working with different departments. In addition, he has helped to the bring the Schuman collection of music instruments to life by fundraising and coordinating events, while working with Arts and Humanities to create a more focused presence on campus.
On July 1, Morris will go back to teaching French and francophone cultures and film. He will also continue his work with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages by interviewing and assessing the French language abilities of people around the world. He also plans to attend ACTFL meetings, present, and train members of the organization around the nations.
"I'm very optimistic about the College of Arts and Sciences," said Morris.
"There are a lot of challenges in the transition that it has to go through but I believe there are a lot of opportunities," he said.
Dean of Sciences and Professor of Geology Joe Graf has held his position as dean for the past 12 years. Although Graf notes that what he has accomplished as dean has been a collaboration with faculty and students, he has helped to develop the Deer Creek Center, a field station where students can get a more hands-on education. Graf has also help bring state funding to Engineering and Technology, raising more than $2 million since 1999. Furthermore, Graf has received grants for equipment so that the science labs have state-of-the-art instruments for students to work with.
On July 1, Graf will go on sabbatical until June 30, 2008. He plans on spending his almost year off finalizing geology research he has collected over the years and finding ways to display it to the public. At the same time, he will consider his professional career and where he will fit into the new SOU science system. He has succeeded in continuing to teach at least a class a year while in his role as dean and considers the possibility of becoming a part-time or full-time professor again.
"It's such a year of changes," said Graf. "It will be interesting to see."
