Ohio University has spent time hiring and filling positions across the university, including deans' positions from the College of Business to Health Sciences and Professions. It is also currently undergoing the hiring process for deans within the Russ College of Engineering and Technology and the College of Arts and Sciences.
Both open deans' positions are being hired through open forums. Provost Elizabeth Sayrs hopes to announce who will be in those positions before the end of the semester, Daniel Pittman, a university spokesperson, said.
“Salary details for either role will not be available to share until after the successful candidates have been identified and their contracts are formally completed,” Pittman wrote in an email.
John McCarthy, dean of the College of Health Sciences and Professions, recently went through the dean interview process and was hired as dean in December 2022. He is currently making $245,000 annually in the position.
“I certainly never thought I would be a dean,“ McCarthy said. "Most of my training was really to be a pretty intense researcher and teacher. When there were opportunities to take over, I decided to try them out and found that there were parts of the job I enjoyed and found interesting, too.”
McCarthy has been at OU since 2004 and has held several positions within the Health and Sciences Department including assistant professor, director of the Division for Communication Sciences and Disorders and associate dean for research.
“It's nice to have gone through a process where there was a search and where … the individuals in the college had different choices, and could consider my candidacy,” McCarthy said.
In March, OU named Russell Morrow its first assistant dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Business. In this position, Morrow looks at how the College of Business accomplishes goals that contribute to DEI, and he makes around $80,000 annually.
Morrow received his undergraduate degree in media arts and video production as well as his master’s degree in college student personnel from OU.
Since graduating, Morrow has worked at other universities, including The Ohio State University, where he was a professor teaching about social justice leadership and got his doctorate in education administration.
Morrow also worked at Denison University in its Department Center for Belonging and Inclusion but said it had been a great experience to return to OU.
“It's great to get to see a different side of the institution that I fell in love with, found a home and spent six years at, so I really enjoy kind of coming full circle and seeing familiar faces,” Morrow said.
While in this position, Morrow said he hopes to make students who come from underrepresented backgrounds in the College of Business have their experiences validated.
“I want students who come from marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds in the College of Business to say they felt like they found a home,” Morrow said.
McCarthy said he would like for students to see him as a resource and someone who is in a position to help students across the university.
“Not everybody understands what a dean is,” McCarthy said. “There's never a view of a dean that's fairly positive, and … I would like to think I'm somebody who's a resource for individuals in the college.”
