Jim Young, the new accountancy department chair, has displayed constant smiles while adjusting to his new duties.

This semester, he will replace previous accountancy department chair Greg Carnes, who is taking a position at Lipscomb University as dean of the College of Business.

“The search for a new chair was, from the start, an internal search,” associate accountancy professor Doug Clinton said.

David Graf was dean when Carnes announced his plans to leave. Graf did not want to hire a new chair who did not have the department’s support, Clinton said.

Though the process was informal, candidates began to stand out and Graf made the final decision to choose Young.

Graf asked the staff to nominate other staff or themselves if they were interested in the chair position, Clinton said. The accountancy department also held a secret ballot election between Jim Young and the other candidate for department chair, Sally Weber.

Graf spoke with each candidate before announcing his final choice publicly.

Many people within the department of accountancy approached Young and asked him to consider the position.

Young said though he is both honored and excited about the position, he is also a bit apprehensive as he begins a whole new experience from teaching and interacting more often with students.

Retired accountancy professor John Simon said he thinks Young will need to have patience while he learns the job.

“[Young] puts down his work and talks to you. Greg Carnes was the same way … I try to be like them,” Simon said. “I can’t think of anything Jim Young would do that Greg Carnes wouldn’t have done.”

Both Clinton and Simon agree that the biggest downfall to Young’s promotion is that he will not be teaching in the classroom as much as he used to.

“He is a model teacher,” Clinton said. “He’s incredibly popular [and] he’s always upbeat, which is good in a department chair.”

Young said he will teach two classes this semester, one on and one off campus.