College of Arts and Sciences dean candidate John Kiss, Ph.D., proposes bringing Seton Hall into the top 100 universities in the country.
Kiss, chairman of the botany department at Miami University (Ohio), was the last of four candidates to visit the University. He interviewed for the position on Jan 30.
He said Seton Hall could do a better job of ensuring students stay at the university.
"I would want to work on improving the retention rate at the University," Kiss said.
Promotion of student and faculty interactions is another goal Kiss noted.
"At Miami University, I would have lunch outside the classroom with my students twice a year," Kiss said.
Kiss said he has a desire to work at Seton Hall because it is a "well-ranked" Catholic university.
Kiss says the role of a dean is the "chief academic officer of the college."
According to Kiss, his responsibilities as dean would include helping maintain the quality of life for students and faculty.
He also said that he has a desire to work at Seton Hall because he believes in a liberal education in a Catholic university.
When it comes to underperforming professors, Kiss said he would meet with the chair of the department in which the professor teaches to understand the problem and then find a solution.
He received his doctorate in botany and plant physiology from Rutgers University and has worked for Miami University for 19 years, four as chair of the department of biology.
While Kiss said he enjoys being involved in higher education, for six years he also supervised space projects.
From 2004 to 2010, he oversaw scientists and engineers at many NASA centers and also at European Space Agency centers.
Samantha Toth can be reached at samantha.toth@student.shu.
