December 31, 2014

 

Contacts:

Dr. Diane Duin, Dean - College of Allied Health Professions, MSUB, (406) 896-5841 or dduin@msubillings.edu
Mr. Richard Pierce - Department Chair, General Education, City College at MSUB, (406) 247-3087 or RPierce@msubillings.edu
Aaron Clingingsmith, Director University Relations & Communication, (406) 657-2243 or aaron.clingingsmith@msubillings.edu

 


The public will have opportunities to meet the finalists for the position of City College dean during community forums January 20-22.

 

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — A national search for the next City College Dean has yielded finalists from Indiana, Pennsylvania and Montana, officials announced today.

 

The candidates will visit Billings for interviews and open public forums from January 20 - 22.

 

The finalists are listed in order of their visit to campus: Dr. Clifford Coppersmith, Dean of the School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications at Pennsylvania College of Technology; Dr. Rita Kratky, Interim Dean of City College at Montana State University Billings; Dr. Mark Bannatyne, former Chair of the Department of Design and Communication Technology at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). 

 

Dr. Diane Duin, MSUB's College of Allied Health Professions Dean, and Mr. Richard Pierce, City College General Education Department Chair, led an 18-member committee searching for City College’s next dean.

 

"The search committee had a robust group of candidates to choose from,” Duin said. “I think students, faculty, staff and community members will be impressed with each of these finalists.”

 

The City College Dean is an important member of MSUB’s senior leadership team and reports to Provost Mark Pagano. 

 

“The landscape of two-year education has changed dramatically within Montana over the last three years,” commented Pagano.  “Our next dean will play a pivotal role in providing career-focused programs and two-year transfer education for Billings and throughout the state.

 

In 2012 the Montana University System rebranded all of Montana College of Technology’s to serve a more comprehensive two-year mission.

 

Date and time of each public forum are as follows:

  • Dr. Clifford Coppersmith, Coppersmith’s community open forum will be held at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 20, in Health Sciences 119.
  • Dr. Rita Kratky, Kratky’s community open forum will be held at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 21, in Health Sciences 119.
  • Dr. Mark Bannatyne, Bannatynes’s community open forum will be held at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, January 22, in Health Sciences 119.

Duin said the search committee hopes to have a permanent dean in place prior to commencement on May 2, 2015.