After roughly a month of consideration, Provost Katherine Frank told James Gaudino in a Feb. 1 email that she has advised against the consolidation of the dean of Library and the dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Frank said the decision to rescind her proposal was due to a lack of support by stakeholders.

In the email, Frank mentioned that a consolidation of the two positions was not advisable, and that she came to this decision after having consulted with stakeholder groups for over a month, and listening to their feedback.

“I believe that broad stakeholder support would be required to fully manifest the benefits of combining these two leadership positions,” Frank said in her email. “It is clear from much of the feedback submitted that such support is not available at this time.”

Later that day, Gaudino sent Frank’s email as well as his own to Faculty Senate Chair Cody Stoddard, who then forwarded both Frank’s and Gaudino’s email to the faculty. This email explained that Gaudino agreed with Frank’s opinion on maintaining the two dean positions.

“The feedback that you have provided is a clear indication that the faculty stands in opposition to the proposal to restructure the two decaonal positions into one,” Gaudino said in his email.

Former professor Walter “Spike” Arlt felt as though the decision to maintain the two dean positions was a good one. According to him, everyone is delighted by this. Arlt believes that there is a likely possibility that the university might try to consolidate two dean positions in a similar matter in the future, but that it should end the same way, with two separate dean positions.

According to Arlt, this is an issue that students, both undergraduate and graduate, need to be aware of.

“I don’t get involved in these types of issues unless it is a critical issue, and that was a critical issue. Probably one of the most critical issues that I know of,” Arlt said.

Arlt did get involved in this issue, he spoke at three different faculty forums against this idea for a proposal.