Hire Education
SOME IMPRESSIVE FRESH faces will soon be en route to Dartmouth—and we're not talking about the next crop of shmen. As of early April the College was looking to fill no fewer than five top administrative posts by the end of summer: dean of the College, dean of admissions and financial aid, vice president of communications, associate dean of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and vice president of institutional diversity (a new, higher-ranking position that will replace the Colleges original special assistant to the president for institutional diversity and equity post).
Search committees con- sisting of College faculty, staff and students are leading the charge to find and vet new recruits, a process that can take six to nine months. For at least two of the searches the College has also hired com- panies that specialize in dialing academias up-and-coming —including those at rival Ivies and other elite schools— and extending personal invitations to apply for open spots. It's not a tough sell, says Rick Routhier '73, Tu'76. Routhier, a consultant with the executive search firm Spencer Stuart, is working on the Colleges dean of admissions and financial aid search. Dartmouth's reputation, resources and "fantastic student body" make it a unique, appealing place, he says.
Of course, not all possible hires have the Big Green fever. "There are some people who are very enthusiastic about being on Dartmouth campus and in Hanover," says Routhier's colleague, Anne Coyle. "Other people feel a need to be in an urban place, a warmer place." Some candidates' spouses, Routhier adds, may be leery of moving to Hanover for fear of finding their job prospects limited.
John Isaacson '68, founder of executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, which has worked with Dartmouth in the past, sees another potential candidate turn-off: President James Wrights time on the job. Wright is now in his ninth year as president in a field where most of his peers serve no more than a decade. Prospective candidates might worry that once Wright leaves his successor will bring a new administrative team aboard, Isaacson says. In that scenario even new hires could be swept out.
That notion doesn't worry Provost Barry Scherr, chairman of the dean of the College search committee. It's not a concern candidates have raised, he says, and Wright hasn't expressed an interest in retiring any time soon. "Every indication is that we continue to attract very good people to Dartmouth who are eager to come to a college with such a strong president," he says.
