Finalists for the dean of International Studies and Programs position hopefully will have on-campus interviews in October. The search for the dean of the College of Engineering isn’t as far along — there is not an advisory committee in place yet, but a new dean hopefully will be in place by fall 2014, said Theodore Curry, associate provost and associate vice president of academic human resources.

“Dean searches are a result of deans going to positions where they have greater leadership,” Acting Provost June Youatt said.

It’s fairly normal for the university to search for a couple of deans at the same time, Youatt said. About six years ago, there was a time when 10 deans positions were filled in two years, she added.

What’s not normal is to search for dean positions and a provost at the same time, Curry said. Deans report directly to the provost, which means that applicants for the dean positions are unsure who their boss would be.

“Ultimately, with the reputation and strength of the university and tradition of stability — I think it won’t be a major impediment to recruiting,” Curry said.

But, he added that it will be something the applicants ask about.

There were 98 applicants for the dean of International Studies and Programs, with a small group of applicants going through a remote interview process with the advisory committee. The committee will select a few applicants to visit campus in October. From those applicants, Youatt will recommend one to President Lou Anna K. Simon, who then will recommend a finalist to the MSU Board of Trustees. The process is the same for all dean searches.

The provost search will follow roughly the same process — minus Youatt’s recommendation.

The dean of International Studies and Programs is in charge of study abroad and making sure faculty and students have the proper visa — whether coming to the U.S. or going somewhere else — along with other international issues. The engineering dean is in charge of faculty hiring and promotions, along with teaching loads and college standards.

When Simon transitioned provost to president, she was the longest-serving current provost in the Big 10. When her successor, Kim Wilcox, left MSU earlier this year to be chancellor of University of California , Riverside, he was the longest serving provost in the Big 10. Wilcox served from 2005-2013. Simon served from 1993-2004.

The University of Michigan has gone through six provosts since 2001.

Provosts are in charge of anything from transcripts to admissions and everything in between, Mundt said.

“Students don’t understand how everything is run — this is the person who runs all of it,” she said.