A national search to find Martin’s successor will be announced later this fall, with the goal of naming the new dean by fall of 2020. Martin will serve in his current role until a new dean is named.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Carnegie Mellon University searching for next dean of College of Fine Arts; Dan Martin stepping down after a decade
A national search to find Martin’s successor will be announced later this fall, with the goal of naming the new dean by fall of 2020. Martin will serve in his current role until a new dean is named.
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I'm curious, what will Dan Martin be teaching in the School of Drama? What's his background? I think that the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama is in the midst of a really big changeover in terms of faculty and leadership within the school. This might prove better for the school as a whole, but I would love for the traditions and the norms to stay the same for the time being, and the changes to the program be focused around the immediate and not necessarily just be at school at a time where they are testing things out. This school has always had a lot of potential to be even better than it already is but its honestly time for them to properly harbor the issues while also holding on to what makes this school so special and strong, we won't do any good without properly finding leadership and rushing to make decisions.
I understand Martin wanting to be less involved in administration and more in teaching and facilitating learning within the School of Drama. Honestly, working in admin is pretty boring and doesn't really give you the freedom to interact with students and do the things that you're passionate about. I know that he has his undergraduate degree in theatre, so I'm sure he'll be a good addition to the faculty at SoD, though I wonder exactly what he'll be doing because I'm not sure what his career in theatre has been. On the other hand, the leadership turnover in the past few months has been pretty tumultuous and I really wonder if this was the best time for him to announce this decision. It's actually been pretty distracting as a student to see the administration go up in flames as soon as I got here. I'm sure it really is just that he doesn't want to be the dean anymore, but there's just so many high-up faculty members leaving that it makes it kind of difficult to feel 100% confident in the direction of our education. I feel 100% confident in my professors and TAs, but I just am not sure about the higher-ups at this point. But honestly, I'm sure Dan Martin just wants to teach more and I can respect that, I just think the timing is poor.
Similar to what Shahzad said, immediately upon heading about Dan leaving I wondered what he would be teaching in the School of Drama. My first reaction was confusion, because I didn’t even know that he was a drama person to begin with. Honestly, coming in as a first year student this year, it’s kind of alarming that two of the highest up positions in my school have shifted around within a month. Hopefully these adjustments are being made for the better, and that the school continues to move forward and make remarkable progress. I hope the school maintains the same status in the industry and continues to be successful. I would also hope that the changes are made seamlessly and prevent a disruption in the students. In high school, my grade was always the guinea pig grade, continuously being affected by changes, and I hope this isn’t the case here.
As a freshman, it can be distressing to be thrown into a completely new environment, only to hear that two of the main administrative positions are shifting within our first semester. Granted, I am unsure of how much these higher-ups and their decisions affect us directly, but it is tough and worrisome to encounter these announcements as we attempt to make it through our first year. Luckily, this school comes with high expectations and a strong reputation and I have confidence that the next dean will have the qualifications and abilities to keep the school on its upward trajectory. If anything I hope this opens up the possibility for a non-white/non-male dean, because Dean Dan is certainly a nice man, but having a POC dean or a female dean or even a female POC dean would certainly be a lovely change and hopefully open the school up to some amazing ideas and opportunities.
As a freshman, it is very interesting to see how much the administration is changing in terms of the school of Drama and the College of Fine Arts here at Carnegie Mellon University. However, I am not too concerned as these changes do happen semi-regularly, we just happen to live in the midst of an unclear time. I do appreciate Dean Martin’s choice to inform the College of Fine Arts students and faculty of his decision and what his plans were before the official announcement of his resignation. One can only hope that they choose a successor that will strive for progress in areas that are needed. I think that there is a strong focus and emphasis on how these kinds of leadership roles affect students down the line. I think that we as students have made it clear that we have our eyes on this situation and will not hesitate to speak up for what we believe in. That is an aspect of being at CMU that I have noticed and do appreciate.
Peter Cooke is gone and now Dan Martin is leaving us. I am curious to why Dan Martin wants to step down to teach once again. I am very curious what the process is like to hire a new College of Fine Arts dean. Like does Carnegie Mellon go out and ask people to apply? Or do they just hope talented and committed people will put in an application? I am sure it is a very interesting and stressful process for the school. Also, (more questions) why is the photo in this article of such poor quality? I am sure if you are a journalist writing this article you can find a much clearer quality image. In fact, I might be wrong because the quality is so bad, but are we sure that is a photo of Carnegie Mellon? I am so confused here. If I didn't have to read articles for weekly comments I definitely wouldn't have read this one solely from the photo.
-Pablo Anton
This is quite the tumultuous time to be a drama student (especially so for first-year students), at least in terms of new leadership. First Peter Cooke stepped down as Head of the School of Drama, now Dan Martin steps down as Dean of the College of Fine Arts (and, by extension, Interim Head of the School of Drama, I guess). I have not found a significant change in atmosphere, granted I have only been here for three or so months. I am curious as to the process of selecting a new dean of CFA, and I am looking forward to seeing what steps new management will take. I am hoping CFA and SoD will make moves that align with their mission of diversity and inclusion by introducing a female dean, a dean of color, or even a female dean of color. Obviously, this is not the only way to practice inclusion, but it certainly sends a strong message.
Like many people have said in the comments above, I genuinely don’t know what Dan Martin’s role would be in the School of Drama as a faculty member. What would he teach? The power change over in the School of Drama has been a rollercoaster, and it is kind of unsettling. Our head of school Peter Cooke took leave and just left 2 months ago and Dan Martin stepped up to substitute. Now even Dan Martin is stepping down as the head of CFA and taking a year leave. However, I appreciate that an email was sent out to explain the situation to us students, and not just letting us find out when he left. I feel like CMU needs stronger leadership in the art programs, especially in SoD. Although we are one of the best drama schools in the world, we have many problems that still need to be resolved and we can’t do that with strong enlightened leadership. And to do that, we also need strong leadership for CFA in general.
With all of the changes currently going on within the college of fine arts and school of Drama, as in income freshman I have to be honest and say I am a little bit confused. However, I think there is some excitement that there is a new opportunity for someone to come in and bring new ideas to the college as a whole. In this article they reflect on Dan Martins career, mentioning that under his leadership CMU became the first exclusive higher education of the Tony Awards (which I actually did not know!) Dan certainly made an impact on this school as a whole, but as they search for someone to fill his shoes in 2020, I hope they look to bring someone who has a very different perspective on the school. As mentioned below, I agree that it would be great to see a nonwhite/nonmale person in that position.
I remember the day of my interview for Carnegie Mellon. After I interviewed for the School of Drama, my parents and I met Dan Martin in his office simply to discuss the school and to figure out whether or not this was the right school for me. As a freshman, it is a bit jarring to be thrown into and environment where two major figures in the administration of the College of Fine Arts and School of Drama are stepping down making room for change. However, I am interested as to what Dan Martin will be teaching in the school of drama and how that will change the environment we put so much of our lives into. From what I know, Dan Martin has done much good for the College of Fine Arts and I'm sure this change will benefit the college of fine arts as a whole, the school of drama, and Dan Martin himself.
I was very surprised that Dan Martin decided to step down as Dean of the College of Fine Arts this semester, especially in the wake of the Head of the School of Drama, Peter Cooke, leaving for the semester to take a leave of absence. As a freshman these changes don’t have much of an effect on me personally since I do not know either of these people particularly well or how they ran their schools/colleges but it is still shocking to see such a change in management in such a short time. It is really interesting that Dan Martin will be joining the School of Drama faculty. I had no idea that he had a background in theater and specifically theater and entertainment management. It will be very interesting to see what the students here think about him as a teacher and I look forward to seeing him around the school.
Just like every other CMU student, I am going to include my two cents on this. It seems that the head positions are disappearing by the minute, I can only hope we can find replacements easily. I am curious what Dan Martin will be doing at the School of Drama in the future. I am also curious what his drama background is. It sounds like I have an issue with it but I don’t. I’m just genuinely curious. It’s good that at least Dan Martin will be here for the rest of the year so it gives the school enough time for someone to take over the position when he transitions over. It is a lot of pressure to be the head of a school so it is completely understandable for Dan Martin stepping down to work a smaller positions. I hope the best for him and for the school as well.
I feel like this is a really interesting time to be a CMU Drama student. We have seen, already, two instances of leadership changes in our few months here. I have been thinking a lot about these situations and I honestly cannot point to a circumstance in which either would apply to me being a student here and maybe that is part of the problem. Innovative and strong leaders make time to interact with those that they lead. I don’t doubt that Peter and Dan were good leaders, but being a first year student here, I feel like ever since the picture with Peter, the class of 2023, and our class bush, that was the last I saw of him. In orientation he told us he would know all of our names, but I saw little effort to engage with the student body. I hope, moving forward, we can find a leader for the school of drama and for the college of fine arts that are not white, straight men. Now is the time where we need to branch out and start hearing different and diverse voices in the leadership of this university. For right now, I feel like we are in very good hands with the extremely capable and talented faculty and staff of the SoD.
Like many of the current freshmen replying above, I am mildy confused as to why Dean Martin is stepping down. I understand being tired of only operating within an administrative position after a whole decade. Perhaps this is a much bigger deal to School of Drama students because of the recent departure of Peter Cooke. For a lot of the freshmen, I think it was extremely jarring to learn that two of the upper level administrative positions in School of Drama/College of Fine Arts were opening up for new people. It may just be that the timing is off and Dean Martin has been considering a new role in the university for a while. It certainly seems as though Dean Martin has made some enormous changes to the school for the better and I hope that the next dean of the College of Fine Arts improves it even more.
Dan Martin stepping down is very interesting. From a student perspective I think Dan was a fine Dean. Him getting us a partnership with the tony awards is truly a great accomplishment and that is something that should not be over looked. While I think he did fine as a dean I am a little unsure about him returning to faculty in the school of drama. He has not be in a teaching position in a very long time as he has been dean for over ten years. Also since he has been dean he has not been able to work in the industry and the industry changes a lot in ten years. I hope when they are picking the next dean they really take the time to find someone who will be a good fit for not only drama but for the other schools in the college of fine arts.
Dean Dan was an icon, and he will be missed. I read a few of the comments ahead of me by Freshman, and I think were all in agreement that it's kinda scary (but mostly funny) that we got here and immediately scared away 2 of the main administration for the School of Drama and College of Fine Arts. It must've been our raw power that scared them off. I definitely see why Dan would want to step down, because sometimes having that much responsibility can get stressful or boring. Plus, if you're someone who got into this field in the first place you must love to teach. I'm happy that Dan is doing what will make him happy. I'm excited to see what he teaches (but also mildly concerned because I know nothing about this man). I really hope CFA gets a new Dean that is a woman, POC, LGBT, just anything that isn't a straight white male. I will be genuinely disappointed if we get another white guy as the dean.
With Dean Martin leaving, it is honeslt y difficult to feel anything. Unfortunately, as a student of the shcool of drama, I haven't had much opportunity to meet or interact with the man in any meaningful way. However, those few times he has intervened or spoken at a School of Drama event, I have felt that he has been helpful and competent.
I think some people in this comment thread are taking this change a little too seriously or reading into it a little too much. It amy not feel like it, but institutional change is good. In an organization as monolithic as Carnegie Mellon University, it takes eons for any substantive change to happen. Many changes that have been initiated before a student arrives at the school aren't even completed by the time they leave the school. Keeping the same people in positions of leadership, no matter how well-meaning they are, leads to stagnation, leads to a slowing down of institutional change. We don't want that. I for one, will be looking forward to see who is chosen to replace dan martin, and I hope that their fresh perspective on the school will be just what we need to improve ourselves and improve the school.
While short, I think that this article does a nice job of describing the wonderful accomplishments that Dean Dan Martin has made within the College of Fine Arts and what he has given its students over the past ten years. It's always very interesting to me what is said when someone steps down or leaves a position. I feel like all too often we hear stories or rumors of what they didn't do so well or what they could have done better. But Dean Dan Martin is someone who has always supported the School of Drama and looked out for its students' welfare, and I think that listing taking a look into all of the good he has done for the school is an incredible tribute to his legacy at CMU as Dead of the College of Fine Arts. I think that he will do a wonderful job as faculty at SoD, and that he deserves the time off that I hope he gets.
More power to you Dean Dan!! An administrative position can be a really challenging job to have, especially if you entered academia with a passion for teaching. There is a lot of appeasing donors and building structure that is all valuable and fascinating in its own right, but good for him for returning to his passion. I would love to take a class from Dean Martin. From what I have heard, he has a really interesting background, and he probably has a different and interesting perspective that we could all stand to hear. That being said, our program has had to fight to maintain its integrity through so much turnover in faculty and leadership, and, I don’t know how the addition of someone who hasn’t taught in a decade will help us. Especially since we put so much weight in the recent experience in the actual industry from our faculty. I hope they really think about this decision, and don’t just give him a position because they feel like they owe it to him.
I’m curious about where Dan is going to go from here/what the reasoning behind leaving is. From my understanding, he still taught even though he was the Dean of the College of Fine Arts. I’m curious if there was a separate part of the job that just became less appealing and worth it overall, or if something triggered him to go. Really, I get the feeling that there’s more to the story here, and whether that “more” is more complicated something that influenced his decision to leave, or it’s just something simple like it takes less time to be a professor over being a dean, and he’d like to spend more time with his family. I’m curious, even though admittedly it’s not much of my business what the reasoning is. I suppose just the situations with CFA and the Drama deans are just all very coincidentally timed, and it makes me curious about some of the stuff going on around us. That said, I wish Dan Martin the best in what he does in the future, and I’ve heard he’s a wonderful professor, and from what I understand he was a great dean as well. Whatever the case may be, he’s done the school a lot of good, and I know he’ll do well wherever he ends up.
There has been a definite shift in the School of Drama and College of Fine Arts community at Carnegie Mellon, in particular regards to the leadership at the school. Similar to a lot of my classmates, I didn’t realize that Dan Martin’s interest in the arts was in a particular regard to drama, but I hope his addition to the faculty after his step down and year off, will be beneficial and helpful in the grand scheme of everything. I also hope, similar to what Claire said, that the new position might open a door for some more diversity to enter our faculty- particularly when dealing with campus leadership. I think a great addition, or change, would be to have more people of color, women, non-cisgender, and/or just generally diverse people who are teaching our classes and leading our programs. We frequently have conversations surrounding an increase in diversity within the student body, but something we talk less about is increasing diversity within our faculty and staff. I think we should use this change to focus on the diversity that we so frequently strive to connect with.
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