Patrick Barr-Melej addressed UTRGV faculty and staff Thursday on his career qualifications for the College of Liberal Arts dean position in the Student Academic Center on the Edinburg campus.
Barr-Melej has served as a professor of history at Ohio University since 2017.
From July 2020 to October 2023, he served as executive director for the Center for International Studies at Ohio University.
In addition, Barr-Melej has held leadership roles such as chair of the department of History and program-assessment faculty fellow for the Office of the Provost at Ohio University.
His education background includes a doctorate in History from the University of California at Berkeley.
Barr-Melej also earned a Master of Arts and a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of California at Davis.
During his presentation, he mentioned numerous opportunities he sees in the College of Liberal Arts.
“We need an approach that identifies the key skills and competencies that we impart,” Barr-Melej said.
If selected as dean, he intends to develop niche doctoral programs and enhance the Master of Arts programs the college has.
“I’d love to have a conversation with you on identifying areas of excellence … and see what we can do there and build,” Barr-Melej said. “… I know that sometimes, small amounts of money can make a huge difference in the Liberal Arts.”
He would like to further intensify community engagement in the college.
“You know who you are, where you are and who you serve, that screams to me community engagement,” Barr-Melej said. “… I sense something different here, and building on that is exciting.”
Ian Seavey, an assistant professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Community Engagement, asked the candidate what some of his ideas are to help the college increase to R1, the Carnegie Classification for Doctoral Universities that relies on research and development spending.
“I don’t necessarily think that R1 designations revolutionized campuses as much as one might believe,” Barr-Melej replied. “… So, I’m not of a mind that this is necessarily as big a cultural shift as one might think because a lot of people do research. … A lot of people do great teaching and great research at the same time. So, it takes communicating that. And you also want to get away from the notion that I mentioned earlier, right, that R1 will affect everybody in the same way. That is simply not the case.”
Alexandro Treviño, program manager for the Office of the Provost, read a question from an attendee present via Zoom, asking the candidate how he would address the differences between the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses.
Barr-Melej replied by asking what the relationship between Edinburg and Brownsville looks like in terms of student support and curriculum coordination.
He said it would be important to look at how many students and faculty members are traveling to Edinburg and vice versa to come up with a plan.
Jennifer Rathbun, the final candidate for the dean position, will present her career qualifications from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Academic Center on the Edinburg campus. The presentation will also be available through Zoom for faculty and staff. The link will be sent before the presentation.
Along with the Zoom link, attendees will receive a survey link to provide their feedback on the candidate after the presentation.
Currently, Rathbun serves as the interim chair of the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Ball State University, a role held since summer 2022, while also fulfilling the position of chair of the department of Modern Languages and Classics since July 2021.
Provost Luis Zayas told The Rider on Nov. 5 that after all the presentations are done, he will meet with the search committee.
“We talk over the finalists and, at that point, it’s up to me to make the selection,” Zayas said. “Typically, the committee provides me with their impressions and advice and then I … consult it with the president on the decision I’m about to make.”
He hopes to have an announcement on the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts by early 2025.
“I would like to have someone in place by next summer so that they can have the summertime to prepare before everybody gets back,” Zayas replied when asked when the selected candidate will officially assume the position of dean.
