Sister Lucille Dean steps in at UGF this year
Sister Lucille Dean has no dramatic plans for the University of Great Falls while she serves as the interim president this year.
But the past chairwoman of Providence Health and Services board of directors — UGF’s governing board — has no intention of letting the university rest on its laurels this year while searching for a new president.
“The mission of the university is not changing,” she said. “But it will continue to grow.”
Dean started at UGF on Aug. 11 after President Eugene McAllister stepped down to spend the year working on alumni relations and fundraising before he retires next summer.
Though she’s new in a leadership role to UGF, Dean earned her bachelor’s degree in history here in 1962 when it was the College of Great Falls and the campus had just moved to its current location. She holds a master’s degree in administration and curriculum and instruction from the University of Oregon.
Her job at UGF this year is three-fold: To continue providing a liberal arts education to the students here, help UGF to create a five-year strategic plan, and get involved in building the community of UGF. She’s working with faculty and staff to accomplish all of these goals.
Developing a strategic plan has to happen before UGF will begin searching for a new president, she said. The university needs to identify its leadership needs before hiring a professional firm to search for the person to fill those needs. But she said faculty and UGF’s board of directors hopes the strategic plan will be completed by December so that screening of candidates can begin.
“(A strategic plan) must be practical and there must be goals,” she said. “It’s not a document you put on the wall or put in a cupboard.”
She said the planning committee will continue to develop and expand ideas around the idea of providing a liberal arts, Catholic education to a wide spectrum of students. Dean squashed any rumors that UGF is shifting its focus dramatically to a medical-preparation college or McAllister’s presence on the college campus has become unnecessary.
“Providence Health and Services recognizes and values the University of Great Falls for what it has been and what it will be,” she said. “We very much value what Dr. McAllister has accomplished at this university and his gift for development and advancement and he is actively pursuing it.”
Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.
Notable moments in Sister Lucille Dean’s career:
Graduated from the University of Great Falls (then College of Great Falls) with bachelor’s degree in 1962.
From 1979 to 1985, Dean was the provincial superior of the Sisters of Providence, Sacred Heart Province.
She served in the education ministry of the Sisters of Providence as the principal of Providence High School in Burbank, Calif., from 1986-2005.
She served with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Catholic Educational Association in the work of accreditation of member institutions.
She is the immediate past chair for Providence Health & Services, having served as chair from 2009 to 2012.