UW names new Arts & Sciences dean

With 25,000 students, the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington is larger than any other single university in the state.

So when the UW announced Monday that it had found a new dean for the college, it represented a major appointment. UW Executive Vice Provost and longtime faculty member Ana Mari Cauce will begin the role some time next spring or early summer. She will be paid $300,000 annually.

The college is the core of the UW undergraduate program: More than 70 percent of all bachelor's degrees are earned through Arts & Sciences. There are 70 academic departments, 940 faculty and 6,000 classes annually. The budget is $280 million.

Because of its size, some faculty speculated that a new leader might want to split the college's four divisions into four smaller colleges — namely arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Some feared that could heighten the financial divide between the well-funded sciences and the less-well-funded liberal arts.

But Cauce said Monday she has no plans for any split. She said there are distinct advantages to remaining a single unit. However, she said she would like to allow each of the four divisions more autonomy and flexibility.

For instance, some divisions might want to offer pre-emptive raises to desirable faculty who are considered a "flight risk," she said. Lab-based science faculty can be particularly costly to replace, she added.

"I'm certainly open to the fact that just because it's one college, it's not one-size-fits-all," she said.

Cauce, 51, has been a UW faculty member since 1986 and has a background in child psychology. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami and a doctorate in psychology from Yale University. At the UW, she's held administrative positions since 1990.

She replaces David Hodge, who left last year to become president of Miami University in Ohio. Ron Irving has filled in as interim dean since Hodge left.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com