John Osborne, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) for the past 10 years, is stepping down after completing his second consecutive term.
Osborne began his academic career at Carleton when he was 16, working in security. He has stayed a Raven ever since, even after serving as a professor and department head at Queen’s University. When the opportunity arose for him to take on the position of dean at Carleton, he leapt at it.
“It felt very much like I was returning home,” he said.
When Osborne entered his office 10 years ago, FASS was in a deficit. In his joint terms, he has worked to shape the department into the strongest on campus, he said. He redrafted the budget, hired more than 200 full-time faculty members, and employed initiatives to keep senior staff and garner new scholars.
Under his leadership the faculty has seen many new programs, especially at the graduate level. Osborne said he strived to connect interdisciplinary fields like African, disability, and music studies, to broaden students’ horizons.
Osborne also oversaw the creation of a series of external partnerships around Ottawa and Ontario to increase the number of co-operative and practicum courses offered.
Catherine Khordoc will serve as interim dean for one year beginning July 1.
She said she plans to do her best to live up to Osborne’s reputation, but will be running her own show. Khordoc has no plans for radical change in the faculty, she said, though there are emerging opportunities that she said must be developed.
The new Bachelor of Global and International Studies degree will begin next year, as well as many new exchange terms, spring break courses, and chances for international travel. Khordoc said she believes these opportunities are integral to an undergraduates learning experience and give them new perspectives on why they want their degree.
Khordoc also said she understands Osborne’s dedication to the arts, having worked with him for 10 years. She said she intends to see programs Osborne set up thrive by helping to find a suitable replacement who can oversee the culmination of his goals.
The candidate will have to exhibit a knowledge of budgeting and administration and be easy for students and staff to talk to, Khordoc said. But above all, she said they will have to have an inextinguishable love of the arts.
“Our task is to understand humanity better and from new and different perspectives,” Khordoc said, which rings closely to Carleton’s own motto, Ours the Task Eternal.
The motto defines the campus as a whole and especially FASS, Khordoc said, since approximately half the faculty are Carleton graduates.
Osborne said he will remain a dedicated alumni.
“I began here at Carleton, and I intend to finish here too,” he said.
