“I’ve been dean 18 years … and I think the college is in very good shape,” Ames said. “It’s a good time for a new dean to come in and assume the leadership position.”

During her tenure, Ames has helped the college develop urban education programs and begin one of the first online master’s education programs, she said. She has kept her position for so long because of the quality of the faculty, she said.

“It’s been a great community to be a part of,” Ames said. “It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been a lot of fun.”

A committee, composed of faculty members, administrators, students and a representative from the provost’s office has been formed to begin an international search process for a new dean, said Robert Floden, co-director of the Education Policy Center and the committee chairman.

According to the position description, priorities of the new dean should include innovation, research funding, diversity, institutional advancement and urban and global outreach.

The group plans to look for someone who is an outstanding leader and scholar, Floden said.
“We’re in the process of getting nominations and reaching out to people to talk to them about the position,” Floden said. “We plan to have a dean by the start of the fall semester.”

Elementary education senior Kayla Daros said she hopes the new dean will keep in touch with students, as well as the world as a whole. She said it is important for the college to keep the yearlong internship it currently requires of students before graduation.

“One thing that I would change, I would say that the College of Education should add more programs for educating general education majors with special needs students,” Daros said.
Ames said the college has worked through budget reductions during her tenure, but she will be leaving a college on “an upward trajectory.”

More than 70 percent of current faculty in the college were hired by Ames, said Cassandra Book, associate dean for student affairs and external relations for the college.

Ames also has helped bring in a significant amount of outside grant money to ensure faculty research was a top priority, making the college very attractive for graduate students, she said.

The College of Education ranked No. 17 overall in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” and the elementary and secondary education programs both are ranked No. 1.

“She has left no part of the college untouched,” Book said. “Our research productivity is one of the largest of all the colleges on this campus, including some of the science-based colleges.”

When the college had to handle a 20 percent budget reduction a few years ago, Ames determined how to use money in the college most effectively and kept the cuts process open and transparent, Book said.

“She wanted to make sure when she stepped down as dean, that this college was very fiscally sound,” Book said.

The new dean will need to focus on maintaining the flow of incoming graduate students and grant money to the college, Book said. Getting the ball rolling with fundraising also will be key, she said.
“East Lansing is a little bit harder to recruit to than some of the sunny, beautiful California (university) locations,” she said. “We compete very well with the Harvards, Stanfords and Berkeleys and they need to know how to talk about the value of the university.”

More about the job posting can be found at education.msu.edu/resources/jobs.