The University of California at Berkeley�s Board of Regents approved Dianne Lynch, dean of Ithaca College's Roy H. Park School of Communications, as the new dean of their graduate school of journalism yesterday.

In an e-mail today to Park students, faculty and staff, Lynch said she will leave  the college in January. Diane Gayeski, a professor, associate dean and chair in the strategic communication department, will serve as interim dean in the spring.

�[The interim] will ensure a smooth and easy transition and a continuation of Park's progress as an extraordinary environment for student learning and professional growth,� Lynch said in the email.

According to the agenda of the Regent�s three-day summer meeting in Santa Barbara, which began Tuesday, the decision was reached in a closed session with the committee of compensation. Lynch was appointed to the dean position May 25 by Berkeley provost George Breslauer, two months after initially withdrawing her application from the search.

Lynch was one of five candidates in Berkeley�s search, but was the � No. 1 choice of every constituency at the school -- students, faculty, alumni and staff,� Breslauer said in a May 27 article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Neil Henry, an associate professor at the school and a former candidate for the Berkeley dean position, will serve as interim dean of the graduate school until Lynch assumes her duties in January. Lynch succeeds Orville Schell, who stepped down at the end of the spring semester after 11 years as dean.