The College of Arts and Sciences' new interim dean said she's at the bottom of the steepest learning curve she's ever faced.
Nina McClelland was announced as the college's interim dean in early August, and she has asked the CAS faculty for their help to get better acquainted with the college.
McClelland is a UT graduate and brings years of skills back to her alma mater acquired from working in private industry and public service.
She boasts an extensive resume. She is president of her own consulting firm, Nina McClelland L.L.C. Consulting Services; she is the former chairwoman and CEO of the National Science Foundation in Ann Arbor, a nonprofit organization working in the fields standards development, product certification, education and risk-management for public health and safety; she is a former adjunct professor at University of Michigan School of Public Health; and she has worked on humanitarian issues with both the United Nations and the World Bank.
When asked about her recent appointment to the college, McClelland tried to address the fears about the future role of the CAS at UT.
"Of course people are apprehensive. There is always apprehension when you don't know," she said.
"When you don't know, you have lots of doubts. I see [this appointment] as an opportunity. I'm going to have a great chance to meet new people and a great chance to have an even stronger relationships with the people I know, respect and like a lot," McClelland said.
"I don't see it as a challenge at all. I am the new kid on the block," she said, adding it's too early to comment on the current state of the college.
"As of right now, I can tell that she is not a pushover, and she will stand up to ridiculous comments made either by the administration or by us," said Lawrence Anderson-Huang, chairman of the Arts and Sciences Council.
At the ASC meeting on Aug. 25, McClelland started off her introductory speech and said, "Call me Nina" to the faculty members. She sees herself as representing "a form of diversity that is not traditional," she said, referring to her past experiences and her connection to UT.
She repeatedly said, "I need your help" to the council and that she is looking forward to working with them.
Prior to meeting McClelland, Anderson-Huang expressed hope she would "listen and get a complete picture of the college that she can report back to the administration and at the same time she would work with everybody in an open way to further the interest of the college."
McClelland's appointment sparked students' interests.
Diana M. Davis, a senior majoring in women and gender studies, is happy the CAS has a new interim dean. She said she was disappointed in the way the former dean, Yueh-Ting Lee, led the college.
"I think that it was a good decision for Dr. Lee to leave that position," Davis said. "I can't imagine that this new person will be any worse. I have faith the university picked a decent person to lead the College of Arts and Sciences."
She believes the former dean lacked some of "the basic skills that are necessary for college administrators to possess."
"People skills and assertive communication are the most important skills for the new dean to have," she said. "In my opinion, the former dean really needed to grow in those areas."
Non-CAS student Kyle Everman, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, also took interest in the matter. He said although he's not directly affected by the appointment of McClelland, he believes in the importance of "standing up for the values and goals of that department." He thinks CAS majors need to have the same support that the medical and engineering students have.
He asked, "Why would [the students] want to come here if they don't [have the support]?"
McClelland said being back at UT after all this time demonstrates how much her roots mean to her.
"I hope we can begin together, the faculty and me, to reach out more into the strategic plan that the college has and the strategic plan the university has and to begin to develop the actions and plans that will take us many steps further in our striving for excellence," she said.
McClelland will start in her new position on Sept. 19, although she said she has already been to so many meetings and made so many contacts that she felt like she has already started.
"I am delighted to be back, and I feel that I never really left," she said.
- Melissa Chi contributed to this report.
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