Announcing the New Dean Three Days Before Xmas When No One Is Around Actually Is *Not* Normal...

...but that's what DePaul University has done.  The new Dean is Gregory Mark, from Rutgers University at Newark.  Now why the odd timing?  Blog Emperor Caron suggests it is because most of the faculty preferred an inside candidate, not Professor Mark.  That's a pretty plausible hypothesis under the circumstances, and given the generally high-handed misconduct of the DePaul Administration in this and other matters.  That being said, Blog Emperor Caron is getting a bit carried away, since Professor Mark and the inside candidate were both voted as "acceptable" by the faculty, and it is really not that uncommon for a University Administration to choose among the candidates approved by the faculty, without regard to the faculty's rank ordering.  It would have been prudent, of course, for the DePaul Provost to have deferred to the faculty preference in this instance, given the sordid history, but Provost Epp is not notable for his prudence or his judgment.  As Caron notes (and as we expected), several DePaul faculty are weighing outside offers.  Incoming Dean Mark will have his work cut out for him, to put it mildly.