Jerome Garris Appointed Vice President and Dean of the Faculty

Jerome H. Garris, a veteran CMC administrator, has been named vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, the 12th in the College's history. President Pamela Gann announced the appointment last week, following a seven-month search process after the announcement last spring of the July 2005 resignation of William Ascher as vice president and dean of the faculty. Ascher plans to return as a member of the CMC government faculty following sabbatical in the coming academic year.
"The types of academic issues before us in the next three years require someone who is both familiar with CMC and possesses extensive academic administrative experience," said President Pamela Gann in a written announcement to the faculty. She also cited Garris' extensive knowledge of CMC and its unique mission, as well as his experience working with the College's alumni, friends, and Trustees.
Garris assumes his new role July 1 and currently serves as associate vice president of research and institutes, director of foundation and corporate relations, and a senior lecturer in government. His current responsibilities in support of faculty research and research institutes are expected to move with him into the Dean's office.
"As a nationally recognized liberal arts college, our focus on research should never be a subsidiary goal," Garris says. "Moreover, we should take full advantage of every opportunity to involve our students in the research conducted by our faculty."
Garris says he also will continue to direct his attention to CMC's curricular programs. "Ours is a wonderful faculty," he says, "a highly productive faculty of teacher-scholars, and I look forward to working collaboratively with them to support the College's missionfor that mission is one of the College's genuine strengths."
Garris, who has two sons who graduated from CMC, joined the CMC faculty as an assistant professor of political science in 1974, after earning his Ph.D. at UCLA, and served as vice president and dean of students from 1977 to 1984. He then moved to Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., where he served as dean of the college from 1984 to 1990, provost from 1990 to 1998, and acting president, 1990 and 1992. Garris returned to CMC in 1998.