ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Ohio University Eastern appointed an interim dean as the campus searches for a permanent replacement for David Rohall.

Ohio Eastern appointed Richard Greenlee, an associate professor of social work, to be the temporary dean beginning May 16, after current dean Rohall announced he will step down May 15. Rohall will return to teaching as a sociologist.

Greenlee has served the Ohio University community since 1990, even dedicating several years as dean at Ohio Eastern more than 10 years ago. Greenlee’s background is in social work. He received a doctorate in the field from The Ohio State University and a master’s from the University of Pittsburgh.

Greenlee will make his way back to the same position he served in more than a decade ago next month.

Greenlee believes he is a good fit because he is from the local area. He is a graduate of Union Local High School and has family, friends and connections here.

Ohio Eastern put out a notice that it was looking for an interim dean for the time being, and Greenlee applied for the position.

“I have a very strong connection to this campus, this university and this community,” Greenlee said. “And this position is very much about integrating all those three things together. And as a social worker, we believe in the person and environment, really. And in this case, it would be the student and then the environment and creating that perfect scenario for them to find, discover who they are and to develop the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in life.”

He added he has a passion about all three – the campus, the university and the community, and it’s been a pleasure and honor to return to his community and serve the campus.

“I want to keep the momentum that Dean (David) Rohall has created,” Greenlee said. “I want to keep that momentum going. And so I think I feel like with my background as being a former dean, my life, my family, having been here for generations, and my knowledge … I felt I was best able to step in for a temporary position.”

Greenlee has been attending meetings and getting familiar again with the group of folks he worked with years ago.

He said his job is to connect faculty, students and staff with services that are going on out there in their field of interest, while at the same time helping the community because the campus has the knowledge, skills and expertise to connect with people.

“When we talk about campus and community relations,” Greenlee said, “it’s for me to be out there to represent Ohio University’s Eastern campus, our students and educating people about what we do. Opening doors for people, so many people.”

He added his job is to make people aware of the opportunities at Ohio Eastern and to help them understand the degrees they can get.

Greenlee said this time around being the interim dean, he still expects to serve the campus and community in the way he described, but it’s important to note there is a lot he needs to learn. He mentioned he’s meeting new people and that times change.

He noted it’s a constantly changing environment, and it’s important to reemphasize to people that the campus has evolved, too, such as Ohio Eastern offering close to a dozen bachelor’s degrees.

A major program the campus has now is nursing, which Greenlee said he needs to learn about because it’s a newer program and didn’t exist when he was the dean before.

Other degrees he mentioned that are offered are business, education and social work.

He said once he becomes dean, he’ll spend some time becoming more knowledgeable about the nursing program so he can better discuss it with people in the community and figure out where there are more opportunities for them with all the college’s degrees.

Greenlee described Rohall as doing a wonderful job at filling him in and preparing him for the role.

The process to search for a permanent dean is rigorous, usually taking about a year to find one. Ohio Eastern will put out advertisements to let people know it is searching for someone who is the right fit.

Greenlee thinks becoming the interim dean brings him full circle, as he started at Ohio University 35 years ago. He said he’s still up for a challenge and is looking forward to taking it on and doing the best he can to serve the faculty, staff and students.

“I’ll wrap up my career by serving this campus, the university and the community one more time before I retire, and I have been rejuvenated. I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s always about the students and trying to create the best educational experience they can have here on this campus.”