Van Zandt Names New Dean of NSSR

Earlier this week, President David Van Zandt appointed economics professor William Milberg as the new Dean of NSSR. The Free Press covered the search for a new dean, which at the time had three candidates: William Milberg, Teresa Ghilarducci and Bill Hirst who are all present NSSR faculty members.

It’s a turbulent time for higher education nationally. Rising tuition costs and declining enrollment are top concerns for the administration at The New School. The search for a new dean promised to be an opportunity for the school to address student concerns and involve them and faculty members in the process of envisioning their future. The Graduate Faculty Student Senate (GFSS) endorsed candidate William Milberg, the Associate Professor of Economics at NSSR, after holding a town hall meeting with the three candidates.

In an interview with the Free Press, Milberg said that the biggest problem facing students now is debt and its effect on graduate school enrollment. He outlined a plan to solve those issues.

“One [solution] is to seek outside funding for scholarships,” he told the Free Press. “The second [way] is to use our internal financial aid more strategically, and the third [idea] is we may in the end decide to admit fewer PhD students in order to fund each one of them at a higher level,” Milberg said.

Milberg has co-published two books on economic society and economic thought and has taught for ten years at The New School South Africa Democracy & Diversity Institute. But more important than his credentials is his vision as the new dean.

As an economist, Milberg thinks he is ready to lead the school through its financially trying times.

“I tend to be very focused on the financial analysis of the school and the division and I am very keen to raise more funds and to use existing funds as efficiently as possible,” Milberg said.

He also wants to expand the current dean Michael Schober’s commitment to strengthening international relations. Schober was committed to the school’s relationship with the Heuss Professorship, a 50-year-old German Institute that funds a visiting professor from Germany to teach at The New School. But Milberg would like to increase international relations with academic institutions elsewhere as well.

In addition to building relationships internationally, Milberg wants to strengthen the connections the NSSR has within the university.

“I think we need to firm up graduate student support and expand ourselves internationally and to engage in a more meaningful way with the rest of the university, especially Lang College, Parsons and The New School for Public Engagement,” Dean Milberg said. “I think that some of the really interesting scholarship at the NSSR needs to be communicated across the university better, through new courses, intensive seminars, panels which are done in collaboration with Parsons, New School for Public Engagement and Lang. We are going to build creative ways of engaging with faculty and students that build on the synergies that we have.”

Milberg’s position as dean will begin July 1.