Two new deans welcomed to UWRF

Two new deans were welcomed into the College of Arts and Sciences in May and College of Education and Professional Studies in July and have been experiencing a smooth transition so far.

Dean Brad Caskey, alumnus of UW-River Falls, has been working with the College of Arts and Sciences for a number of years in various positions such as interim dean. As dean of this college, Caskey oversees 15 departments, eight interdisciplinary programs as well as 240 faculty and staff members and close to 2,600 students. He also manages the college’s budget which is for faculty salaries and department funding.

The best part of his position, Caskey said, is hiring new faculty. “When new people come in and are excited to be here, the best part is to go and see them in action,” Caskey said. He is also part of the strategic planning committee to help plan the campus’ future along with several other task forces. Along with this he gives a speech to all in-coming students and helps with registration. Caskey also tries to sit in fi ve to 10 classes a semester in various departments.

Larry Solberg is the new dean of College of Education and Professional Studies. As dean of this college, Solberg oversees almost 1,400 students as well as eight departments. He was an associate Dean of the College of Education Sciences for 18 years at UW-Eau Claire before accepting this position.

Solberg has been enjoying the environment and getting to know the college as well as the faculty. One of his favorite things has been “meeting the faculty and staff one on one and getting to know everyone,” he stated. Solberg would like to visit organizations in his college to meet students and speak with them to become more involved as well. There are four deans on the UWRF campus. Dale Gallenberg is the dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and Glenn Potts is the dean of the College of Business and Economics. All four deans meet at least once a month with the Provost forming the Dean Council to discuss strategic planning, possible changes in colleges as well as projects that may require split funding between the departments.

Each year Deans are given a little portion of money in the budget called “reserve money” to spend on upgrades in various classrooms and departments. In some cases they combine their funding for larger projects that require more money than one college would have alone. A recent example of this is in the Agriculture of Science building. The lab room 418 was enhanced in acombined effort between the Dean’s funds and the school’s.

One of the main problems Deans deal with is the issue of budget. “Last year the College of Arts and Sciences had to give back half a million dollars,” Caskey said.

Deans also meet with alum and attempt to increase philanthropic giving by promoting events various departments are holding and explaining future goals. These contributions greatly help with funding projects and meet goals that are set by each department. It is also their job to offer support to department chairs to help deal with any serious personnel or student issues that may arise.