Western Kentucky University has named its second interim dean in less than a week for the Potter College of Arts and Letters.
WKU Provost Terry Ballman emailed Potter College faculty Monday to say Merrall Price will serve as the college’s interim dean beginning May 1. Price is currently serving as a special assistant to the provost, and also teaches in the English Department.
Ballman announced last Tuesday that Potter College Dean Larry Snyder was stepping down from the post and would resume faculty duties.
Ballman also said former WKU-Glasgow Chancellor Sally Ray would take over as interim dean, but Ray later declined the offer.
A few dozen students protested outside WKU’s Wetherby Administration Building, which includes the Provost’s office, after Snyder’s resignation was announced. Several faculty members told the College Heights Heraldthey were concerned about the circumstances surrounding Snyder’s resignation.
The WKU University Senate, which represents the school’s faculty, has scheduled a special called meeting this Thursday at 3:45pm in the auditorium of Grise Hall. Kirk Atkinson, chair of the University Senate and an associate professor of Information Systems, said in an email to faculty that the topic of the meeting will be, “Concerns about, Implications of, and Potential Responses to Recent Administrative Decisions”.
Potter College includes 13 academic departments: Art; Communication; Diversity and Community Studies; English; Folk Studies and Anthropology; History; Journalism & Broadcasting; Modern Languages; Music; Philosophy and Religion; Political Science; Sociology; and Theatre and Dance.
