Home Brian Stelter Blog   Photos   Resume   Archive

Liberal Arts dean to step down by summer

By: Brian Stelter

Posted: 5/12/05

Rita Marinho, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, plans to step down after the end of the spring semester, The Towerlight has learned.

In the corridors of Linthicum Hall this week, there was widespread speculation among CLA faculty members that Marinho would leave the deanship soon.

Strained relations with some members of the College have affected Marinho's five-semester tenure.

On Wednesday evening Provost James Brennan said he had not received a letter of resignation.

"I can truthfully say, she has not resigned, and I have not asked her to resign," Brennan said.

When asked if he had spoken to Marinho about stepping down from the position of dean, Brennan declined to comment, calling it a "personnel matter."

Marinho did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Her assistant said Marinho was "extremely busy" and told a Towerlight reporter, "I am not allowed to talk to you." Several faculty members said they had heard rumors that Marinho wouldn't occupy the dean office come fall semester. On Tuesday, President Robert Caret said he had heard rumors but had not seen a letter of resignation.

The provost conducts annual evaluations of the dean of each college. "I would be reluctant to say anything about anyone in particular because it is an ongoing process," Brennan said.

News of Marinho's anticipated resignation follows months of tension among CLA faculty members. Two months ago, five faculty members sent a letter to Marinho "expressing strong concern" about her conduct at a CLA Council meeting on March 1.

"I know that there is some unhappiness in certain quarters," Brennan said.

Before accepting the deanship at Towson, Marinho was dean of the school of humanities and social sciences at Millersville University in Pennsylvania.
Home Copyright Brian Stelter