Longtime dean steps down at NCSU

Raleigh, N.C.-Dr. Oscar J. Fletcher, dean of North Carolina State University's (NCSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, plans to resign this post effective June 30, 2004.

The move comes as the 15-year college dean approaches his 65th birthday. Fletcher, a pathologist by discipline, will remain a faculty tenured professor at the veterinary college.

The change is welcomed, he says.

"I'm not trying to set a record for longevity," Fletcher says. "When you reach my age, you hit a plateau. My intent right now is to get back into education and see if I can do something useful. It's been 15 years since I've actively engaged in day-to-day diagnostic activities."

Fletcher was appointed dean of NCSU's veterinary college in 1992, after three years of heading Iowa State University's veterinary program. He is the second dean in NCSU veterinary college's 25-year history.

"It's been a pleasure, but it's now time for faculty to exercise a search and bring in someone with high energy and vision," he says.

Fletcher's most notable achievements include working in 1998 to extend the Centennial Campus Authority (CCA) to include the veterinary college. In the late 1980s, the North Carolina Legislature created the CCA, granting NCSU 1,000 acres and a non-reverting trust fund enabling the university to issue bonds and construct projects under its own authority. The veterinary college's move into the group already has resulted in one key partnership - the Iams Co. is opening an Iams Pet Imaging (MRI) facility in the veterinary teaching hospital, college officials say.

NSCU's veterinary college also garnered national prominence during Fletcher's term when it was ranked forth by U.S. News & World Report. Further success came in 2000 when voters approved the University and Community College Bond Referendum. Funding from the measure allowed nearly $60 million in new construction, infrastructure for the Biomedical Centennial Campus and upgrading of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the veterinary college's main building.

These "significant achievements" are a source of pride, Fletcher says.

"These were some tremendous long-range accomplishments that offer plenty of opportunity for us in veterinary medicine," he says. "At the same time, the challenges are high and the resources to get things done have diminished.

"My advice for the incoming dean is to articulate your vision and communicate it every day as hard as you can. Most importantly, good luck."

Dr. James L. Oblinger, NSCU provost and executive vice chancellor, is responsible for putting together a search committee to fill Fletcher's post. At presstime, there were no public contenders.