Anders backs out of WSU dean’s job

The newly named dean of the Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing has backed out of the job, breaking a contract and stunning Spokane officials who hailed him as the key to attracting prestigious faculty and funding.

Robert L. Anders, 59, cited personal reasons for his last-minute decision to remain at the University of Texas at El Paso, WSU officials said Monday.

“It’s a surprise. He was what we were looking for,” said Brian Pitcher, the university chancellor.

“He didn’t signal the warning that he was rethinking it.”

Anders is an El Paso associate dean, professor and nursing school director with a lucrative history of national and international research grants. His appointment was announced in late July, after he’d signed a contract for the $198,500-a-year position that was to begin Sept. 15.

“There was a lot of frustration and disappointment because people had been excited about his arrival,” said Dorothy Detlor, 67, the current dean who still plans to retire Sept. 18.

Anders didn’t return calls Tuesday about his decision.

Detlor said she suspected that Texas school officials convinced Anders to stay.

“I think there were some counter offers from somewhere,” said Detlor, who has held her $180,000-a-year post since 1997.

WSU officials on Tuesday announced the one-year appointment of Anne Hirsch, 54, senior associate dean for academic affairs at the nursing college. An eight-year veteran, Hirsch will earn $140,000 annually to steer the school until a new successor to Detlor is chosen.

“I’m excited we’re going to continue our forward motion,” she said.

Anders’ sudden withdrawal may constitute a breach of contract, acknowledged Pitcher. He said the matter could be referred to personnel for legal action but indicated that that was unlikely.

“There may be a legal basis for that, but there’s very little to gain from that,” said Pitcher.

Instead, school officials will focus on finding another candidate with the skills to lead the cooperative nursing school to a new level of national prominence. Officials hope to announce a new dean within a few months.

Anders, who has received national grants totaling nearly $6 million the past few years, was expected to attract high-quality faculty and increased research dollars, Pitcher said.

That made him an ideal candidate at the WSU school, which is poised to add its first-ever nursing Ph.D. program and to vastly expand its research resources, Pitcher said. Groundbreaking is scheduled this fall for a new $34.6 million Riverpoint campus in Spokane, which will allow organizers to admit more students to the school that enrolls some 900 upper-division and graduate nurses.

Anders was one of two finalists interviewed for the position. The other candidate was Mary Klotz Walker, dean and professor at Seattle University’s College of Nursing. Walker was out of town Tuesday and not available to discuss whether she’d still consider the post.

But Pitcher said Walker already had committed to her school and that it wouldn’t be fair to her – or to anyone – to rush another selection.

Backing out of a contract less than a month before beginning work is rare in academia, said John L. Hosey, a partner in JLH Consulting LLC, the Atlanta search firm with a $16,000 contract to help WSU fill its post. Of 60 nationwide searches Hosey has conducted, only two have ended that way, he said.

Filling a dean’s spot at a school of nursing is particularly challenging because of an acute shortage of qualified administrators, he said. There are more than 50 jobs open across the country right now, for instance, Detlor noted.

Despite Anders’ action, Hosey said WSU is not a hard sell. Spokane is a beautiful community with a reputation for livability, he said.

Hosey said he could not discuss Anders’ specific reasons for withdrawing, or whether they’d make sense to college officials or local residents.

“I can’t comment on whether they’d understand or not,” Hosey said. “He has his reasons … and we respect his reasons.”