LSA dean taking college to next level

Responsible for running the University's largest college—with 18,000 students, 1,100 faculty members, and more than 100 departments, programs, centers and other units—Terrence (Terry) McDonald relishes his new position.

"The college has so much history, distinction and success in training students that this is one of the best academic jobs in the country," says McDonald, who officially became the dean of LSA this summer.

In existence since 1841 when it was one of the three original "departments" of the University to begin offering collegiate level classes in Ann Arbor, LSA is the University's liberal arts college, with divisions of Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences.

"With more than 40 departments and programs ranked in the top 10 in the country, graduate and undergraduate students who get better every year, and more than 180,000 living alumni, the college has definitely fulfilled the greatest hopes of its founders," McDonald says.

"It's a pleasure to work in a college where the question is not about what needs to be fixed, but how such distinction and success can be maintained and expanded," he says.

"As I began working with alumni as interim dean last year, there was a vagueness of what LSA does," McDonald says. "Part of the dean's job is getting out and telling others what we're doing well." He plans to network more to tell alumni, faculty, students and others what LSA is doing.

In addition to promoting the college, he recently outlined other goals, such as working to maintain the high quality of graduate and undergraduate education and creating more dialogue among LSA faculty, and between LSA and other schools and colleges in the University.

"LSA is so large that one challenge is just making sure that the faculty are talking to one another about important questions such as research initiatives and teaching innovations," McDonald says. "At the same time the scale sometimes makes it hard for the dean's office to coordinate all the relationships we have with other schools and colleges with whom we want to be an excellent partner."

Other challenges facing the new dean include dealing with significant budget cuts and helping to craft a new admissions procedure in short order following the June Supreme Court of the United States ruling on two affirmative action lawsuits involving U-M.

"The 6.5 percent cut in our budget for this year was one of the largest in the history of the college," McDonald says. "But we have managed to make it while maintaining our commitment to our undergraduate and graduate students." Among other things, the college actually added capacity to its most over-enrolled courses this year.

McDonald is excited about the new admissions procedure and was pleased to be at the helm of the college—as dean designate—when the Supreme Court announced its rulings in the admissions cases.

"The court's decision was an historic victory for the cause of diversity in higher education in America, and a chance for us to renew our commitment to this important goal," McDonald says. "And our new admissions policy, which calls for a holistic review of the applicants, is really more in line with the policies of liberal arts colleges among our peers."

McDonald has recruited two LSA faculty members to work with the admissions office this year to make sure the new policy is working, and soon will announce a committee to review undergraduate LSA admissions requirements and procedures.

He says the biggest challenge to the college is living up to its own aspirations.

"We want to be the kind of college where staff and faculty have careers of satisfaction and distinction, students have the chance for an intellectually transformative experience, and where we combine and respect excellence and diversity," McDonald says.

McDonald received his doctorate from Stanford University, but it was during his undergraduate years at Marquette University that he developed an interest in history. In the late 1960s, as many people discussed the Vietnam War and other political issues, McDonald was interested in getting a historical perspective on them. Today, he's an award-winning historian of the United States and has made important contributions to the fields of American urban political history and historical method.

McDonald joined U-M in 1980. At that time, higher education teaching jobs were scarce, especially for those interested in history. McDonald visited U-M for two days.

"I left [U-M] exhausted from the sheer intellectual stimulation, and I knew this was the place I wanted to be," McDonald says.

He became involved in college administration for the first time in 1995 because he thought it would be a good way to learn more about the place.

McDonald also has dabbled in local politics. Thinking that the experience would enrich his teaching and research in his field, he served as an Ypsilanti city council member and mayor pro-tem for six years in the mid-1990s. By tackling community issues, the job added to his thinking about urban policy, he says. Council members respected McDonald for his honesty, integrity and sharp analytical skills.

"He's personable," says John Gawlas, who served on the council with McDonald from 1996-2000. "Terry had the ability to connect with fellow council members, who may not have always shared his viewpoints."

The search advisory committee also wanted a permanent LSA dean who could work effectively with people and deal with tough issues, such as the budget problems, says committee chair James House. McDonald's years at and commitment to the University also promised stability—something LSA didn't have due to high turnover as the college had four deans in six years, House says.

"Terry inspired confidence throughout the college and University as interim dean," says House, professor of sociology and senior research scientist at the Institute for Social Research. "I think he's going to be an outstanding dean."