Last week, Ithaca College announced Mary Ellen Zuckerman as the new dean of the college’s School of Business. With an impressive résumé that stretches beyond the business world, Zuckerman is an excellent example of the kind of cross-disciplinary dean the college should seek when looking to fill the currently vacant dean position in the communications school.

Zuckerman not only comes in with experience as dean of SUNY-Geneseo’s School of Business, but also has strong credentials in research focusing on the magazine industry and gender studies. Picking a dean who has multiple academic interests is in tandem with the administration’s vision of incorporating integrated learning at the college, as laid out by President Tom Rochon at the all-college meeting.

Choosing Zuckerman, and future deans with the same well-rounded background that crosses academic disciplines, illustrates how Rochon’s vision for the college can be executed in a concrete, specific way.

The Park School dean search committee is also urged to include more student voices in the decision-making process. Every dean has a primary responsibility to the student population, which in turn makes a sizable student representation a necessity.

Choosing a dean who emulates Rochon’s plan for the college is a well-calculated decision that will give the community direction. By crossing disciplines, new deans like Zuckerman can initiate the next step toward the college’s future.