UI deans to step down next year

MOSCOW, Idaho – Three University of Idaho academic deans are stepping down next year.

Joe Zeller, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, and Jeanne Christiansen, interim dean of the College of Education, will leave their posts in July. Zeller is requesting reassignment to another position at UI. Christiansen declined to discuss her plans.

Byron Dangerfield, dean of the College of Business and Economics, will retire in August.

Zeller, appointed in 2002, said his decision follows three recent surgeries. Christiansen was hired for an interim term that expires next summer. Dangerfield, 62, is retiring on schedule, said UI spokeswoman Nancy Hilliard.

“I don’t want it to look like a wave of retirement for any particular reason,” said Hilliard, who is retiring Oct. 31.

UI has deans at its nine Moscow colleges and three branches in Boise, Idaho Falls, and Coeur d’Alene. UI President Tim White, back at work after a heart attack, is in his second year at the school.

Provost Douglas Baker, who joined UI two months ago after working at Washington State University for 24 years, said the deans’ departures are unrelated to the school’s recent difficulties.

“The university is going through a real renaissance right now,” Baker said. “This is really a great opportunity for me as the new provost to put together my team. We’re going to do a national search this year and we should have those folks on board this coming academic year.”

Zeller, 60, faced problems at UI on arrival. He was hired to serve as dean of the College of Art and Architecture but before he arrived, Hoover merged that college with the College of Letters and Arts.

The last few years were “a tumultuous time,” Zeller said.

“Hopefully, things have settled down,” he said. “In that regard, it’s time to change leadership.”

Christiansen, 62, has held her post since 2002 as well. Dangerfield has been at UI for 25 years, and has been dean of his college since 1991.