Shortlist down to three for TRU’s dean of law

NEWS — Thompson Rivers University is getting closer to finding a new Dean of Law.

Three candidates on the final shortlist will be on campus starting next week for a round of presentations, tours, formal interviews and informal drop-ins and meetings with faculty and students.

Uli Scheck, TRU’s vice president academic, told The Armchair Mayor News today some of the presentations will be open to faculty, students and staff.

“”We need to be respectful of the privacy concerns of candidates for senior administrative positions, which is why these presentations are typically restricted to members of the TRU community,” he said.

“We try to balance the need for confidentially with a level of transparency respectful of the collegial environment of the academy.”

 

The candidates include Dr. Tom Grant from Cambridge, England, Prof. James Cooper from California and Dean Brad Morse, a Canadian working in New Zealand. In addition to all the activities on campus they’ll be given an opportunity to look at the city “to get a sense of place,” said Scheck.

One of the things that attracts good candidates is TRU’s location, he said. “We always highlight that.”

The candidates will speak to the topic, “What is your vision for the Faculty of Law at TRU? What would you hope to have achieved by the end of your first term as dean?”

The last of the three candidates will be here the first week of April, after which the selection committee will make a recommendation to TRU president Alan Shaver, which Scheck said will likely take about three weeks.

It’s expected the successful candidate will be in his new job by September.

The first law dean of the school, Chris Axworthy, resigned in July 2013. The school’s first-ever convocation will be in June.