College of Engineering Dean Pramod Khargonekar, whose resignation was announced in December, has decided to stay on as the college's dean through the end of this academic year.
The dean search was postponed because of tight budgets on the state and university level, said UF Provost Joe Glover.
"It doesn't seem like the optimum time to begin a national search for a new dean," Glover said.
The dean search committee stopped meeting in March after six meetings, according to records on UF's Web site.
Glover said UF would examine the financial situation in December or January and decide then whether to resume the search.
"I think what we're looking for is an indication that the state is beginning to recover," he said.
He said it is difficult to conduct a search for a new dean in the face of an uncertain budget.
"Typically, people who are interested in coming to the university want to have a very clear picture on the outlook for the university budget and for the resources that they might be able to count on in the college," Glover said.
Khargonekar, who has been dean since 2001, said he originally decided to resign because he had accomplished most of his goals.
He said he helped develop the biomedical engineering department, saw the number of Ph.D. students graduating from the college increase from 95 to 189 and watched as the college rose from No. 35 to No. 24 in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.
"I've been very satisfied with the progress that the college has made," he said. "I thought it was time to move on."
Khargonekar said his decision to stay came after meeting with Glover and UF President Bernie Machen.
He said he intends to remain at UF teaching and researching in the electrical and computer engineering department after he resigns as dean.
