Tooele Campus Dean Candidate Visits USU

The first of two finalists for the dean and executive director position at the Utah State University Tooele campus will visit Tooele and Logan this week. The second candidate will interview next week.

Candidate Donn Shilling is from the University of Georgia. He will spend Wednesday at the Tooele campus visiting with various groups and constituencies. He is featured in an open forum Wednesday, Oct. 29, from 4-5 p.m. Shilling will also be at the Logan campus Thursday.

 

“We are very pleased to have someone of Dr. Donn Shilling’s academic stature as a finalist for the dean and executive director of the USU Tooele Regional campus,” said Ronda Menlove, vice provost for Regional Campuses and Distance Education. “Dr. Shilling has an outstanding record of excellence in teaching, research and leadership. His experience as a department head at the University of Georgia and a regional center director in the University of Florida system qualifies him for this key USU position. USU Tooele is a growing campus with an increase of 20.5 percent in fall 2008 student enrollment and the addition of new faculty members in business, education, history, math and social work.”

 

Shilling, who received his doctorate from North Carolina State University in 1983, is currently professor and head of the Department of Crop and Soil Science at the University of Georgia, Athens.  Previously, he was director of the University of Florida’s West Florida and Mid-Florida Research and Education centers, where he served as administrative head of 13 research and education centers.

 

“A committee of faculty and student representatives from the regional campus as well as from the Logan campus, chaired by Dean Nat Frazer, did an outstanding job of narrowing the list of candidates to those recommended to President Albrecht for on-site interviews,” said Raymond T. Coward, USU’s executive vice president and provost. “This leadership position will be very significant because we have seen substantial growth of enrollment, programs and faculty at the Tooele Regional campus making this an exciting time for Utah State University in the Tooele and Wasatch front regions.”

 

Shilling has extensive experience with undergraduate and graduate outreach education and extension in both Florida and Georgia. A professor of agronomy and an expert in herbicides, Shilling has received more than $2.5 million in research funding and has published more than 90 journal articles and book chapters.