Koppes meets challenges of first year as dean
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Koppes meets challenges of first year as dean

New dean enters job with big goals

by Sara Foss

Though new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Clayton Koppes adjusted quickly to the role of administrator this year, he did not forget his faculty roots.

"I think it's important for administrators to think about things other than memorandum," Koppes, who is going to team-teach a history course next semester, said. "I think it's important for me to remain intellectualy engaged in the discipline of history. I didn't get my PhD to become dean."

In July Koppes, a professor of history, was named acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In December the dean search committee selected him as the college's new dean.

"I think it's important for me to remain actively engaged with students," he said. "There's nothing like being actively involved in the classroom to keep in touch with the reason we're all here."

The challenges of the classroom differ from those that stem from management, Koppes said. "It's hard in a sense, learning how to deal with the relentlessness of a job where something is going on all the time. There's a constant barrage of things that are always happening. You have to shift gears."

Koppes has been at Oberlin since 1978, when he was hired as a professor of history. He said in February that he became interested in administrative work while he was chair of the department of history from 1987 to 1991. He said he enjoyed the creative aspects of the job involving hiring and curricular change.

As an administrator, though, Koppes has devoted a lot of attention to the needs of the classroom. He has made one of his main goals diversifying the faculty and curriculum. This year, to fill 10 tenure-track positions, the college hired eight women and two men. Four of the 10 hirees consider themselves people of color. (see related story, this page)

Other areas of interest Koppes cited when he assumed the deanship were the planned science center, the upcoming capital campaign and the relationship of the college with the conservatory.

He said the capital campaign will be a lot of hard work. "The fundraising needs are daunting. We're going to have to work very hard to make this happen," he said.

Koppes also that he has enjoyed worked with former acting dean of the Conservatory Kathryn Stuart and dean of the Conservatory Karen Wolff. "There are lots of possibilies for greater collaboration," he said, citing a joint faculty appointment between the Conservatory and college as something which, if created, would help bridge the gap between the two schools. "More collaboration could really help energize the arts scene," Koppes said.

He said the Conservatory and college will always differ some but, "In my way of thinking the college and Conservatory stand and fall together. The academic program as a whole needs to be our focus."

For the future, Koppes said he hopes to continue building on what has already been accomplished.


Oberlin

Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 25, May 23, 1997

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