Weiss outlines future goals

Dean Daniel Weiss plans to improve student life and to increase faculty competitiveness next year as the new Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS), he said during an interview Tuesday.

As the current Dean of the Faculty, Weiss will replace current KSAS Dean Richard McCarty effective June 30 and will be responsible for all issues related to KSAS, including students, faculty and fund-raising.

"My priority is to implement our Strategic Plan, which is a document that outlines our specific objectives for the School of Arts and Sciences," said Weiss. "It was the initiative of Dean McCarty, and he asked me to lead the process."

The Strategic Plan concentrates on increasing the competitiveness of faculty, improving the academic program for students and reforming fundraising initiatives, said Weiss. Most of the changes he plans to implement next year will be extensions of the Strategic Plan, he added.

Through the Strategic Plan, Weiss hopes to dramatically improve the quality of student life at the University.

"We will improve the learning environment of our students by making sure the curriculum meets their needs adequately," said Weiss. This will mean smaller classes and a greater concentration on extracurricular programs.

Weiss said he has already spoken to students about budget concerns for student activities, and he has even doubled the budget for the popular art program at Hopkins.

"I would certainly consider increasing funding for students activities, but the most important thing is that the money be spent intelligently," he said. "I am committed to making it a better environment for students at Hopkins."

Weiss intends to maximize his communication with students and has met regularly with student representatives since the announcement that he will be the new dean. He has even worked to respond to JHUnity's demands for an African American Studies department.

"I have authorized a task force to implement an African Studies center," he said. "I've put in place a task force to build an academic program around this field of study." The task force consists of faculty and students, said Weiss. History professor Sara Berry will lead the team.

Weiss sees this as a step in increasing diversity among the student population at Hopkins.

"We are working to increase the diversity and make sure students know what this means," said Weiss, who wants to "give students a sense of community."

Diversity not only refers to racial background. Weiss also plans to increase the amount of humanities majors within the University.

"[The incoming freshman class] will have slightly more humanities majors," said Weiss. "I will have the admissions office more concentrated on that objective, although we've already demonstrated success in doing that."

Also, the incoming freshmen will encounter an immediate change implemented by Weiss.

"During orientation we're going to have a specific discussion of ethics," said Weiss, and he emphasized "having the community conversation continue on academic ethics."

Already, Weiss has held several town meetings about ethics, and he plans to "strengthen the ethics board to be able to execute its policies. My main concern is improving the learning environment."

Weiss will also work to increase the quality of the faculty and to attract new professors to the University.

"As a leading research university, we compete with the others to get the best," he said. He intends to add to the appeal of Hopkins by increasing faculty salaries and providing state of the art resources.

Moreover, Weiss promises to strengthen oversight of professors and to heighten accountability.

A new campaign for fund-raising will be implemented when Weiss assumes the deanship. A plan has already been set in place, identifying the problems of the current procedure and proposing alterations in the process of obtaining funds.

"We are going around the country meeting with donors and alumni," he said. "We've always done it like that; we'll just have new goals."

Overall, Weiss emphasized that his plans do not differ significantly from those of McCarty.

"I've talked about my vision of the deanship, and I don't think McCarty had a different vision," he said. "He may have had different priorities, but we have similar objectives.