On Jan. 28, a student from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences will have the chance to be the dean for the day.

CHASS is holding a contest for all undergraduate students in the department to have the chance to exchange places with Jeff Braden, dean of CHASS.  

Braden came up with the idea while reminiscing with colleagues over an old television show called “Queen for a Day.” Braden jokingly suggested that the college should do “Dean for a Day,” and the idea began to develop. Eventually, CHASS decided to turn Braden’s idea into a reality.

CHASS sent an e-mail to all undergraduate students in the college describing the contest and how to win the chance to be dean for a day.

According to Braden, students must be an undergraduate CHASS major, be available from 5 p.m. Jan. 27 until 5 p.m. Jan. 28 and must submit no more than 100 words explaining why they would be a good candidate to be the dean for a day and why their day would be interesting to Braden.

According to Braden, the contest is not just for fun. He already has a pretty full calendar of events for the student that will take his place.

Some of those events include representing CHASS at the Dean’s Council, a meeting that involves the deans from all the University’s colleges. The chosen student will also meet with Braden’s advisory board chairman, he said.

“It is a full 24 hours of work with real things to do and real decisions,” Braden said  

According to Lauren Kirkpatrick, director of communication, CHASS student ambassadors will jury the applications and ultimately decide on a student after the Nov. 24 deadline. Students applying to the contest should have at least two classes on their schedule the day of Jan. 28.  

“This was the dean’s idea,” Kirkpatrick said. “He’s very committed to staying in touch with students’ experiences and students’ perspectives.”

Krista Spreitzer, a senior in public relations, said she is excited for the contest and considering applying.  

“It’s a really good way for students and faculty to collaborate, for the dean to see the important issues of the students in CHASS and for the students to see the important issues of the dean,” Spreitzer said.

Spreitzer is not the only one excited about a student becoming the dean for the day. Braden said he is also looking forward to trading places with a student.  

Braden, who is also a psychology professor, said he is looking forward to taking classes outside of psychology. He also joked that, if he does end up taking some psychology classes as part of the role switching, he hopes he does well in them.

“One of the things I really looked forward to is being able to take classes outside of my own area,” Braden said.

According to the e-mail sent to CHASS students, Braden will be eating lunch with the chosen student’s friends and going to all of their classes. It will be a full 24 hours of trading roles, in which the student will have to work hard to make decisions that the dean would make and the dean will attend all of the student’s classes.

Braden said he is excited to see what it is like to be a student at N.C. State because he has never attended the University as a student.

“It’s a way for me to understand what students experience and it gives me a chance to show students what administrative responsibilities are like at N.C. State,” Braden said.