Two in-house candidates are out of the running for the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences dean position.
Joe Glover, CLAS interim dean since January 2007, and Allan Burns, CLAS associate dean for faculty affairs, did not make Wednesday's cut, which shrunk the field to four finalists.
Pramod Khargonekar, UF College of Engineering dean and chairman of the search committee that made its unanimous decision, said members have "enormous respect" for both of them, but they were up against stiff competition.
In an e-mail Wednesday night, Burns wished the remaining candidates the best of luck, and he wrote that he is interested to see what else the university decides.
Glover could not be reached for comment.
The four finalists are Peter Coclanis, associate provost for international affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Paul D'Anieri, CLAS associate dean for humanities at the University of Kansas; David Featherman, director of the Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society at the University of Michigan; and Barbara Romzek, associate dean for social sciences at the University of Kansas' CLAS.
"These four are very different individuals - very different," Khargonekar said. "Each person brings a different face and a different skill set and a different background."
The candidates' current universities are each about half the size of UF, but their liberal arts and sciences colleges are roughly the same size.
UF's CLAS houses about 14,000 students, offers 42 majors and provides general education courses for almost every UF student.
Provost Janie Fouke accepted the committee's recommendation and said she would schedule campus visits with each of the finalists in March.
During the visits, Fouke said candidates would interact with faculty, staff, students and other UF deans.
After the committee collects feedback from the UF community, Fouke said she would choose the dean.
Vanessa Goodwin, Student Body vice president and the only student on the 10-member search committee, said she thinks the students will be satisfied with the finalists.
All of the finalists have strong visions for undergraduate education, and many of them have successfully implemented student programs at their universities that would fit well at UF, Goodwin said.
"Regardless of who comes, they'll benefit the students," she said.
