On Jan. 13, College President Sian Leah Beilock announced the appointment of economics professor Nina Pavcnik as the interim Dean of Arts and Sciences, a position established by the Future of Arts and Sciences project. As interim dean, Pavcnik — who co-led the project’s steering committee with Provost David Kotz — will implement the proposal to combine the currently separate faculty of Arts and Sciences and Division of Student Affairs into a single administrative and budgetary structure. The Board of Trustees unanimously voted to approve the plan on Nov. 8, 2024, after it passed an advisory vote among the faculty of Arts and Sciences in October 2024. Pavcnik will serve as interim dean until the permanent dean is appointed through an external search — a process that will start in the fall of 2025, she said. The Dartmouth sat down with Pavcnik to discuss her work so far with the Future of Arts and Sciences project, the experience she brings to the interim dean role and her next steps in the position.
Beilock announced your appointment as the interim Dean of Arts and Sciences on Jan 13., but your history with the Future of Arts and Sciences project goes back much farther. How did you get involved with the project?
NP: I’m originally from Slovenia, where there’s no such thing as a liberal arts education. I was fortunate to go to college in the United States, and the liberal arts education really changed my life. I would have never become an economics professor had I not gone through a liberal arts education and explored different fields and found my interests that way. I came to Dartmouth as a faculty member 25 years ago, and in part what attracted me to Dartmouth was that it combines a dedication to liberal arts education with world-class research. I very much enjoy being a faculty member who works very closely with students inside the classroom and outside the classroom, including in my research. I think that’s very quintessential Dartmouth — very distinctly Dartmouth.
In addition to being a faculty member here and working closely with students, I was also chair of the economics department, which enabled me to think more broadly about the economics curriculum and extracurricular opportunities that departments provide for students, be it research activities, student groups focused on issues of economics, et cetera. That gave me a broader view of the College. I have also participated in faculty governance over the past 25 years. When President Beilock asked me to co-lead the Future of Arts and Science project with Provost Kotz, it gave me an opportunity to even more holistically look at how we set up Dartmouth to deliver on its mission now and going forward. All of my past experiences as a faculty member, teacher, scholar, member of faculty governance and economics department chair have informed that process.
When you were co-leading the Future of Arts and Sciences project steering committee — a position you held from the summer of 2023 to the project’s approval in November 2024 — did you foresee stepping into the interim dean role yourself?
NP: What I really enjoyed in working on the project was working collaboratively with faculty, staff, administrators and Dartmouth Student Government to put together the proposal. We saw that because of collaboration, consultation and iteration, the proposal was much stronger. Because I was deeply involved in meeting with people all across campus about the project, I was familiar with all the details. Part of the reason why President Beilock appointed me is because I have a deep understanding of all the details of the blueprint that we now have to implement.
How will you bring your experiences as an economics professor and co-leader of the Future of Arts and Sciences project steering committee into your new role?
NP: My experiences as an economics professor, faculty member in faculty governance, department chair and co-lead of the Future of Arts and Sciences project are all going to continue to inform my work in the new role. I will very much continue to collaborate with people — faculty, staff, students and administration — in the implementation stage. The goal for the next 18 months is to put building blocks in place for the new School in time for the inaugural Dean of Arts and Sciences to lead it. We’ll be following the same principles that we followed during the project in this implementation stage.
What does the timeline for establishing the new school of Arts and Sciences look like?
NP: Implementation takes time. We have a blueprint, but now we have to implement it. What we are currently doing is figuring out what the priorities are, how we sequence them and how we make sure that we have the right timelines. The idea is that in the next 18 months, there will be sufficient building blocks in place for the inaugural Dean of Arts and Sciences to take the helm. There will be a search for the inaugural dean starting in the fall of 2025, and the idea is for them to start leading the school in the 2026-2027 academic year.
The proposal states that Beilock will choose a permanent Dean of Arts and Sciences from finalists identified through a national search. Who is leading the search for the permanent dean?
NP: The Dean of Arts and Sciences will report to the College President, so she will put together a search committee with feedback from faculty governance. We have outlined the composition of the process for the search in the proposal.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Kelsey Wang is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from the greater Seattle area, majoring in history and government. Outside of The D, she likes to crochet, do jigsaw puzzles and paint.