November 15, 2011
Interim dean candidates to meet with personnel
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Two faculty members and candidates for the position of interim dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will meet with constituents and campus leaders this week.
John J. Benshoff, director of the Rehabilitation Institute and recent interim dean of the college, and Lyle J. White, professor and chair of the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education, are vying for the position. They will meet with various constituencies late this week.
White will meet with the University’s Executive Council of chairs and deans from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday in Wham 219. He will attend an open forum for college faculty, staff and students from 1 to 2 p.m. at Pulliam Hall, Room 0042, the Furr Auditorium. White then will meet with SIU Carbondale Chancellor Rita Cheng and Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs John W. Nicklow from 3 to 4 p.m. that day at Anthony Hall.
Benshoff will meet with the University’s Executive Council from 12 to 1 p.m. Friday in Wham 219. He will attend an open forum for college faculty, staff and students from 1 to 2 p.m. at Pulliam Hall, Room 0042, the Furr Auditorium. Benshoff then will meet with Cheng and Nicklow from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. that day at Anthony Hall
Cheng appointed Benshoff acting dean of the college in June. Benshoff stepped into the position after Kenneth Teitelbaum, who served as dean the past four years, took a position as dean of the Watson School of Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
A national search for a permanent dean is ongoing as well.
Benshoff came to SIU Carbondale in 1988 as an assistant professor and director of studies in substance abuse counseling and coordinator of the rehabilitation counselor training program. He became a full professor in 1999 and became the institute’s director in 2006, initially on an interim basis. His career also includes experience as a consultant, work in the fields of rehabilitation and substance abuse in both private practice and clinical settings, and serving as a hearing officer for the Illinois Office of Rehabilitation Services.
Benshoff earned his doctorate in 1987 in human rehabilitation at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo. He earned his master’s in rehabilitation in 1968 and his bachelor’s degree in biology in1967, both at the University of Pittsburgh.
White came to SIU Carbondale in 1989 as an assistant professor of educational psychology and special education, as well as a member of the clinical staff at the Clinical Center. He became a full professor in 2001. His career also includes clinical and leadership positions in counseling and marriage and family counseling, including serving as coordinator of psychological services at the SIU Carbondale Clinical Center and interim director of the center.
White earned his doctorate in 1988 at the University of Iowa. He earned master’s degrees in education in 1980 at Kearney State College and 1977 at the University of Nebraska, where he also earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1969.