The search for the next dean of GW’s largest college is down to 13 candidates, who will meet in off-campus interviews for the first time this week with a faculty-led committee.

James Clark, spokesman for the nine-person search committee, said he could not reveal specific qualities of the final 13 candidates, like how many finalists come from within GW. The top five or so candidates will be revealed publicly as early as next week when they start arriving for on-campus interviews with professors and students.

“We are very optimistic about the short-listed candidates, but I can’t say anything specific about the candidates on or off the short list,” Clark, an associate professor of biology, said.

Other committee members declined to comment and deferred to Clark.

University President Steven Knapp and Provost Steven Lerman will make the final dean pick from the committee’s recommendations in late March or early April.

The committee will be searching for a leader who can juggle research credentials, administrative judgment and fundraising skills. GW’s deans must spend at least 40 percent of their time fundraising.

The search is one of the most significant since the University brought in a new provost nearly three years ago. The next Columbian College dean will likely oversee the millions of dollars that the college will use to implement parts of GW’s 10-year strategic plan.

The next dean will replace Peg Barratt, who took on the college’s top position in 2007 and will step down in June. Her up-and-down tenure has seen growth in enrollment and research dollars, but also has been marked with faculty dissatisfaction.

She announced last May that she would step down, a month after her deanship was hit with rough reviews in a faculty survey that questioned her vision and leadership.