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Sheridan's successor will decide Tech's fate

By Matt Dulin
The Daily Cougar

The fate of the College of Technology will lay in the hands of Provost Edward Sheridan's yet-unnamed successor and the recently installed interim dean of the college.

A possible merger with the Cullen College of Engineering remains one of many options faced by the school, Sheridan said, but it is likely such a merger won't take place. 

"It's entirely likely the college will stay the way it is," Sheridan said.

Interim Dean of the College of Technology Bill Fitzgibbon declined to speculate about the possibility of a merger, instead saying he wanted to spend this time "getting to know the College of Technology."

"A lot of things are on the table. Nobody's rushing into anything," said Fitzgibbon, who most recently served as chairman of the math department. "My first order of business is to get to know the college, its faculty, its programs and its students."

Fitzgibbon brings a varied and thorough background to the college, having worked with UH since 1972. He received a full professorship in 1981. He's served as a co-chairman of the computer science program and president of the Faculty Senate.

Fitzgibbon will retain the interim position until the college's next step is resolved. If officials decide that the school will retain its current structure, UH will have to search for a new dean, which would take at least nine months.

Sheridan compared the school's situation as that faced by the colleges of optometry, pharmacy and hotel and restaurant management, each of which lost deans under Sheridan's tenure. In each case, the University undertook national searches to bring strong leadership to each school. Now, each college has brought renewed recognition to UH. And in each case, merging the programs with others on campus was an option.

Ultimately, Sheridan said, such a decision will be "left in the hands of the next provost."

Sheridan said the new provost would probably set up an internal committee to look at the college as well as seek out outside opinion.

"The new provost might bring down people from, say, the nation's three best technology schools and have them look at our program to find areas to improve," Sheridan said. "The ultimate goal is to find out what will make UH a better University."

"I'm really looking forward to finding out who (the provost) is, and I'm looking forward to working with him or her," Fitzgibbon said.

Sheridan officially resigns his post Sept. 2 along with Smith.
 

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