University Of Iowa Appoints Interim As Dean Of Largest College, Skipping Search

IOWA CITY — Without conducting a formal search — despite earlier suggestions it would — the University of Iowa on Friday named another interim administrator to assume a top leadership post on campus: dean of its largest college.Sara Sanders stepped in as interim dean of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in July after its former and short-lived dean Steve Goddard abruptly resigned just a year into the job following a contentious Zoom town hall about budget cuts and fall return plans with 400-plus faculty and staff. Sanders — a social work professor who before her interim appointment served as associate dean for strategic initiatives and director of the college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion division — will earn an annual salary of $375,000, up from her interim pay of $305,000 and previous $160,980 salary.Goddard — who came to Iowa in May 2019 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln following a lengthy search that netted four finalists — had been making $382,300 before his demotion on the heels of faculty complaints.