Gonzaga DPLS Alumni and Current Faculty and Students,
Recently it was posted on the DPLS blog that JoAnn Barbour has assumed chair duties from James Beebe who will officially retire from Gonzaga on June 1, 2013. You saw the message for about 24 hours and then we deleted the message, but neglected to explain. We apologize. Here is what is going on: Dr. Barbour is indeed now working as chair. We wanted an opportunity to smoothly transition Dr. Beebe out of the position and transition Dr. Barbour into the position, and we thought it would be helpful to let the DPLS community understand this. However, we neglected to realize that JoAnn cannot formally begin her position until she receives a letter from University Administration naming her the new Department Chair. To this point in time, the letter has not been sent. So, in essence, we jumped the gun. Intrinsically we know bureaucracies and the cultures within which we work — processes take time; we teach this stuff! We apologize if there are mixed messages being sent. JoAnn is taking care of the daily tasks, responsibilities, and duties of the chair; and, as she has questions, James is across the hall to answer them. James, still nominally the chair, will sign DPLS documents until JoAnn is formally named DPLS Department Chair. If you have questions, you can contact JoAnn at barbourj@gonzaga.edu or 509-313-3630.