ABSTRACT
Serving on a dean's search committee where the interim dean was a candidate for the permanent position turned into a nightmare. Faculty search committees looking for a dean are interested in finding someone with a record that matches their culture and expectations. Some schools have policies that prevent interims from applying for administrative positions, or sometimes provosts will simply make it their own policy by only appointing someone as interim who agrees not to apply for the position. Some church affiliated schools will seek out only "Christian" faculty and administrators—sometimes advertising open positions in Christian journals and other religious outlets. Interims can use the dean's office to win the favor of important people in the college—people likely to be on the search committee, and they can also develop a good working relationship with the provost. In fact, non-interim internal candidates represent an interesting mixture of both advantages and disadvantages.
