First candidate for Westhampton College on campus Tuesday

Kala Bullett was the first finalist candidate on campus for the position of Westhampton College Dean.

Any students, faculty, and staff were welcome to attend an open forum that was held yesterday, Tuesday, April 12, on the third floor of the Tyler Haynes Commons.

According to the University of Richmond website, the on-campus visits “give members of the campus community the opportunity to meet each finalist, provide the opportunity for community members to ask questions, and to engage in productive conversation and recruitment of each finalist.”

Bullett has served as the associate director for the Department of Housing at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, for the past 10 years. Additionally, she has served on a team addressing Title IX compliance initiatives.

Bullett recently graduated from North Carolina Central University School of Law in December 2015. She has a master of arts in education from Virginia Tech. Bullett attended the University of Virginia for her undergraduate degree.

Ryan Foster, a current junior, attended the first open forum. He also plans to attend the next two forums with the other candidates.

“I was really excited going into it because the Westhampton College Dean has implications past just Westhampton College, so I think it’s important for everyone to be informed of how the selection committee is doing,” Foster said.

The list of things that Foster said that he wished Bullett would have elaborated more on includes the community feeling, or lack thereof, on campus.

“I was very impressed with what she had to say about the direction that WC might take and that she was very receptive to current events,” Foster said. “There were certain details that were never quite hashed out that I would have liked to see.”

Students, faculty, and staff who attended the forum or spoke with Bullett at another time are welcome to provide feedback to the selection committee through an online form.

The second open forum was with Kimberly Smith on Wednesday, April 13, at 2:20 in Tyler Haynes Commons, room 305. Details on that discussion will follow. 

Contact reporter Meg Healy at megan.healy@richmond.edu