The Lafayette College administration is replacing its academic deans with two new associate provosts this summer.
The positions — the associate provost of scholarship, research and academic initiatives and the associate provost for academic advising and student success — will join Associate Provost of Curriculum Markus Dubischar in the Office of the Provost.
The roles will begin on Aug. 1 and “will support many critical areas,” wrote Provost Laura McGrane in an email.
The current academic dean structure model will cease at the end of this academic year, according to a separate email from McGrane to faculty in February.
“One of many positives we learned from the academic dean structure was how helpful it is to build more regular and clear communication channels between departments/programs and the Office of the Provost,” McGrane wrote.
The associate provost of scholarship, research and academic initiatives will oversee and promote “student academic success, retention, and engagement,” according to the job description released to the faculty in late April.
Additionally, the associate provost of advising and student success will develop and support initiatives that “promote student academic success, retention, and engagement,” also according to its job description.
With specific positions for these areas of the college, “we’re also broadcasting: here are things that we care a lot about,” former department head and English professor Christopher Phillips said. “The fact that advising has not always been part of that conversation, this feels like a really healthy turn to me that they’re in the mix with these other kinds of things.”
“Collaboration with the new Provost’s Office will be project-focused instead of division-oriented,” wrote Dean of Engineering Lauren Anderson in an email. “I am looking forward to working with the new Associate Provosts on projects related to first-year student success or new institutional grants, for example.”
Dean of the Faculty Ingrid Furniss and Anderson will continue to serve in their respective positions. Meanwhile, the positions of Dean of Natural Sciences Lisa Gabel and Dean of Social Sciences David Shulman will be discontinued.
Gabel wrote in an email that the natural sciences division is looking to create a “similar leadership position to ensure continued support, coordination, and advocacy.”
“Having academic deans in place improved coordination across departments and programs, streamlined communication not only with the Provost’s Office but also with other key areas across the College, and helped elevate shared concerns more effectively,” she wrote.
“It was helpful to have partners in similar positions across the College to collaborate with,” Anderson wrote. “I will miss that.”
This change follows an interim administrative structure implemented by newly arrived Provost Laura McGrane for the 2024-25 academic year. It added a dean of arts, humanities and interdisciplinary programs, a position held by associate English professor Tim Laquintano, to a previously controversial academic dean structure.
In the spring of 2023, the creation of the academic deans was cited as a point of frustration in a letter criticizing administrative transparency from a group of department heads and program chairs to their colleagues. The letter specifically referenced how the positions were created by a “top-down approach” from college administration and filled without job descriptions.
“I think with this new structure, I would say there was, from my standpoint, there was enough input,” Phillips said. “And I put it that way — that there was enough input — because I think that the approach was somewhat different.”
“I spent much of the Fall semester in conversation with the faculty about what would be the best model for supporting their work,” McGrane wrote.
The Office of the Provost has hosted associate provost positions before under former college President Daniel Weiss, according to Phillips.
“It feels to me like coming back to some things that seem to work reasonably well, and also trying some different ways to build bridges between different parts of the faculty work experience,” Phillips said.
The job descriptions for the associate provosts were sent out to faculty in late April, with faculty nominations due May 7, followed by an application deadline on May 16.
“There is a lot of wisdom in the Provost’s new plan and I am interested in seeing how it plays out,” wrote chemistry department head Chip Nataro in an email. “I am optimistic it will work out well.”
