JOE PERIN
STAFF REPORTER

College of Business Dean Chuck Williams will step down on May 31, 2014, after six years as the head of the college.
Williams is leaving Butler University after helping the COB gain national recognition for its internship program, high national ranking and high graduate job placement.
Williams said the average business school dean’s tenure is around three years.
“The normal career path for someone who’s been a dean as long as I have is to go on to be a provost and then a president,” Williams said. “I don’t really want to do that. Those are great jobs, but for me, I really like being a business school dean.
“And if you’re not going to do that—and you’ve been at a place six years and things have been good—then the option is you go look for another dean’s job.”
Williams said he does not have a new job as of now due to the seasonal nature of recruiting new deans, but he hopes to find a vacancy to fill at another university.
Junior finance major Justin Mazzarella said, while Williams helped Butler’s COB grow into a top 50 business school, the rest of the college will continue its legacy.
“The professors, the students and faculty; that’s ultimately what matters,” Mazzarella said. “But the next dean has some big shoes to fill. Hopefully, he can continue the trend of success.”
Associate professor Richard Fetter said he is confident the college will continue to be successful.
“You never know where a new dean is going to try and take an organization, but administrators come and go. Colleges stick around,” Fetter said. “We have a long-term commitment to what we do in the college, and I would expect good things in the future.”
Provost Kathryn Morris will put together a search committee over the next few weeks to select a new dean for the college. The committee should take several weeks to meet, write a job description and then publish an advertisement in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a publication of news, information and and job listings for college and university faculty.
Williams said candidates will be brought to campus to interview throughout January, February and March, which is why he chose now to announce his resignation—to give the university time to find a replacement.
A plan and set of goals for the next several years are already in place, according to Williams.
“I think we’re dead on in terms of our mission, but the challenge is that business changes,” Williams said. “The ways in which we fulfill that mission will change and evolve.
“For example, social marketing 10 years ago, there was no such thing. Now there is. We are having to adapt just like everybody else.”
When asked what she wants to see out of the new dean, junior marketing major Kristen Pilarski said she would like to see the COB expand its network of connections.
“The College of Business needs to branch out and connect with more internship opportunities and businesses outside of Indianapolis, in other cities, to give students more options,” Pilarski said.
Mazzarella said even with the COB’s recent success, the new dean needs to work on Butler’s name recognition.
“We need someone who continues to promote the College of Business brand, which has a strong presence in Indianapolis, and it’s starting to gain prowess throughout the Midwest,” Mazzarella said. “I think it needs to get stronger name recognition in, say, Chicago.”
“I want them to get a great dean who is going to continue the success that I hope we built on during my time as dean,” Williams said. “There are just so many more opportunities to fulfill the college’s vision of becoming Indianapolis’ world-class business school, things that we haven’t imagined yet.”