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Zack Quaintance
Daily Egyptian

The new associate provost of academic affairs and the new dean of engineering started work this week, and interviewing for the interim dean of business and the interim dean of education will begin soon, Provost John Dunn said.

William Osborne took over the college of engineering after the former dean, George Swisher, retired from 30 years of serving the college.

He's got a busy couple of weeks ahead of him getting used to his new position, meeting faculty and moving from his current lodgings in a local hotel to a newly prepared house in Makanda, Osborne said.

Although he can count the number of days he has spent on the job with one hand, Osborne said he has already made some phone calls to potential donors.

"There's always a lot more projects than you can afford," Osborne said.

While there are no specific plans yet, Osborne said one of his early ideas includes a bioengineering program that will allow the University's medical and engineering colleges to work closely together. Aside from that, he is going to do his best to establish a five-year plan that will strengthen SIUC's engineering programs, Osborne said.

The new engineering dean comes to SIUC after sitting as provost at the University of Missouri Kansas City. There is a lot of work ahead of him, but Osborne said he's excited to be a dean once again because he will be able to work closer with engineering students and faculty members. He has more than 30 years of professional and educational experience in the field.

Meanwhile, another long time educator is moving a little farther from his field.

Thomas Calhoun, former sociology department chairman, is splitting his days between his new associate provost of academic affairs position and his old office in the sociology department. The arrangement is temporary until the new sociology department chairman settles into his position, Calhoun said.

The new chairman is Darren Sherkat, a professor in sociology. Calhoun is pleased with the appointment and said he trusts his old department will be in good hands.

Before becoming the leader of the department, Sherkat was formerly the director of graduate studies in sociology, Calhoun said.

Calhoun has a lot more responsibility at the University, he said. As associate provost of academic affairs, he is no longer solely responsible for the functions of a single department. Calhoun must now help Provost Dunn oversee the academic programs of the entire University.

"My position is a lot broader," Calhoun said.

The provost office is charged with filling two vacant administrator positions. Former education dean Keith Hillkirk started as chancellor of Pennsylvania State University's Schuylkill campus on Aug. 1, and business dean Dan Worrell is scheduled to begin as dean of the college of business at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville on Aug. 22.

"We have three internal candidates for each position," Dunn said.

Dunn did not say who the candidates were, but did reveal that they were familiar with their respective departments and would be capable of running the colleges until a pair of national searches could land new leaders. A national search has the potential to result in an internal or external candidate, Dunn said.

Interviews for the college of business's temporary leader are scheduled to start this week, and interviews for the interim dean of education may begin next week, Dunn said.

"With good luck certainly we'll be have appointments by the end of the month," Dunn added.

Reporter Zack Quaintance can be reached at zack_quaintance@dailyegyptian.com.