UMKC has announced two search committees that will begin their work vetting candidates and recommending two important academic hires for the University.  One search is for the inaugural dean of the new Honors College, to be co-chaired by Wayne Vaught, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Gayle Levy, Honors Program Director and Associate Professor of Foreign Languages and Literature.

The UMKC Honors College, which was developed as part of UMKC’s Strategic Plan, is designed to create a significant high-impact learning environment that will increase our community of high-achieving student scholars. The UMKC Honors College will allow students who enter UMKC with advanced educational competencies to experience appropriate academic challenges that may include more focused and appropriate courses and/or the opportunity to fast track into graduate/professional programs.

The other search is for the Dean of the School of Education and will be chaired by Ellen Suni, Dean of the School of Law.  The new dean will succeed Wanda Blanchett, Ph.D., who had served as Dean and Ewing Marion Kauffman Endowed Chair in Teacher Education since 2009.

“The School of Education plays a vital role in UMKC’s urban mission to meet the needs of our community,” said UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton. “Our local schools need excellent teachers, counselors and administrators. I have great confidence in the members of this committee. They are both very capable, and very committed, to helping us identify a leader who can deliver on that vital mission.”