The Office of the President has confirmed that it expects to name the next dean of the School of Foreign Service by the end of this academic year.

Over the past month, the search committee tasked with finding a new dean has reportedly interviewed a number of potential candidates for the position. Interviewees consisted of “a range of men and women who represent the spectrum from full-time academics to those who have combined scholarship and policy experience,” said Angela Stent, chair of the search committee and professor in the government department.

The search committee was formed in April of last year to hire a new SFS dean following the July departure of former Dean Robert Gallucci, who left his post to become president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

According to a position description document published by Spencer Stuart, an executive search consulting firm with which Georgetown has partnered, the dean is tasked with strengthening the SFS’ position in the field of international studies, managing relationships between the SFS and other Georgetown communities and increasing the SFS’ “visibility and participation in national and international policy discussions.”

Among the candidates is Carol Lancaster (SFS ’64), who was appointed interim dean in July following Gallucci’s exit. Lancaster joined the SFS faculty in 1989 as an assistant professor, and then served as the deputy administrator for USAID from 1993 to 1996. She returned to the university in 1996, serving in positions such as the director of the Masters of Science in Foreign Service program as well as the director of the Mortara Center for International Studies.

Lancaster has downplayed any suggestions that she would do more than manage the transition process in her capacity as interim dean.

“An interim dean needs to make sure things run smoothly and begin to develop issues and options for the permanent dean – that is as far as I have gotten in my plans so far,” she said to The Hoya last April when it was announced that Lancaster would serve as the interim dean beginning July 1, following Gallucci’s departure.

Over the course of the year, Lancaster has reached out to campus groups and has hosted a series of monthly discussions with the SFS community on pertinent issues. By helping to establish a student working group, she also addressed opposition to the SFS Map of the Modern World curriculum changes implemented during her time as interim dean.

In February, Foreign Policy Magazine’s blog “The Cable” brought national attention to Georgetown’s dean search when it reported that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg was being considered for the position. Steinberg quickly refuted the speculation.

“I have not talked with or been contacted by anyone at GSFS or Georgetown University. . I have not met with the search committee,” he said to “The Cable.”

Other candidates reported by Foreign Policy include former Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, Princeton University professor Tom Christensen and former U.S. State Department official Marc Grossman. These candidates have not been officially confirmed by the university.

The search and selection process has not been without controversy. Members of the SFS Academic Council, the representative body for undergraduate students in the SFS, have alleged that the search committee has not sufficiently consulted the council for guidance.

“In past years, elected student representatives have been involved in the final stages of selecting the person for the position of associate dean and director of undergraduate programs, such as when Dean Andretta stepped away two years ago. At that time, we, student members of the SFS Academic Council, had lunch with multiple candidates for the position, including Martha Denney,” Caitlin Ryan, president of the SFS Academic Council, said.

Ryan stated that she was disappointed that the elected student representatives have not been asked to be involved with the selection process of the new dean.

Stent disputed the idea that student input was absent from the search process. In an e-mail, Stent pointed out that “the 18-member search committee represents all of the different disciplines taught in the SFS, plus a representative from the Law School. All component parts of the school are represented.”

Kayla Branson (SFS ’10), the undergraduate representative on the search committee, felt she was able to voice student concerns in her capacity.

“I, as well as my graduate student counterpart, Kevin Boyd [GRD ’10], have made a great effort to represent the interests of the general student body,” she said.

Branson held an informal town hall meeting in September to solicit students’ opinions regarding the qualifications required for the position. In her experience, undergraduates are most often concerned with “the role of the dean as an engaged and committed adviser and mentor,” a vision she hopes to realize as a member of the committee. Branson was invited to join the committee by University President John J. DeGioia in April.

Ryan stated that she believes that the search committee can go further than a town hall meeting to get students involved in the selection process.

“I have to say I am disappointed at the lack of communication between the students on the search committee and the general student body. One town hall style meeting in September for learning what SFS students want to see in their future dean is not sufficient. I think the whole process could have been handled better,” Ryan said.

Other members of the search committee include faculty in the SFS; Marjory Blumenthal, associate provost for academics; Edward Quinn, university secretary; and Jane Stromseth, professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.

*- Hoya Staff Writer Eamon O’Connor contributed to this report.*”