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CORVALLIS - The College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University has named two of its department heads to serve as associate deans.

Charles Boyer, head of OSU's Department of Horticulture, will begin the job Sept. 1, 2003. Stella Coakley, head of OSU's Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, will serve as an associate dean beginning in January, 2004, on a half-time basis for one year. The position will become full time in January, 2005, when Coakley completes service as Faculty Senate president, which is also a half-time position.

Accelerated retirements and budget cuts are leaving the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences shorthanded in administration, said Thayne R. Dutson, dean of the college.

"Filling these two positions during the next year and a half will cover two of three positions recently vacated and one additional position to be vacated in 2005," he said. "We're extremely fortunate to have individuals with Charles Boyer's and Stella Coakley's credentials joining our administrative team. Each of them made important contributions working with OSU faculty, staff and students, and with Oregon's natural resource community."

Besides teaching programs, the College of Agricultural Sciences is OSU's largest college in terms of faculty, budget and geographic complexity, and is responsible for the statewide Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the agricultural portion of the OSU Extension Service, which has offices in 35 counties.

Each associate dean oversees and coordinates numerous elements of the college including academic departments, branch experiment stations and programs. Each also serves as an associate director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.

Boyer, head of OSU's Department of Horticulture since 1993, has a bachelor of science degree in biology from Eastern Oregon University and a doctoral degree in genetics from the Pennsylvania State University.

Coakley has been head of OSU's Department of Botany and Plant Pathology since 1988. She holds a doctoral degree in plant pathology from the University of California at Davis.

New heads for OSU's departments of horticulture and botany and plant pathology will be identified through normal search and screening processes that involve faculty, staff, stakeholders and college administrators. The processes for naming Boyer's successor will begin immediately and the process for naming Coakley's successor will begin in early October, jointly with OSU's College of Science.