After spending six years at the College, four as a student and two as an administrator, Liza Veto says she is ready to move on.
Veto, the coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program, and a member of the class of 1993 will be leaving the College in July to pursue a masters in social work. She said the College is close to choosing a replacement.
Veto said a search committee has narrowed down a pool of 75 applicants to three candidates who have visited the College over the past two weeks to meet with student groups.
Veto said she decided to leave the College because her position was temporary and because she wants to continue her education. She said she will attend either the University of Pennsylvania or Washington University next year.
Although Veto was originally hired to serve one year as acting coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program, she elected to remain an extra year because of "complications in last year's search process."
Last year "we didn't have a candidate we felt could meet the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program where it was," Veto said. "We didn't meet a candidate who could match the program."
Veto said the College's program, which was in its seventh year, was more advanced than similar programs at many other colleges, making it difficult to find a suitable replacement.
To avoid a repeat of last year's search, this year's search committee advertised heavily in national publications, on the Internet and at sexual abuse awareness conferences, Veto said.
The search committee is chaired by Director of Health Services Gabrielle Lucke and Director of the Women's Resource Center Giavanna Munafo.
Lucke described the search for Veto's replacement as "a full blown national search."
The committee's advertisements resulted in 75 people sending in resumes.
"It was a much stronger pool this year than last year," Lucke said. "We are seeing people who have expertise in sexual abuse awareness and are committed to that area."
The committee did paper cuts until they reached eight to 10 candidates and then conducted phone interviews of these candidates, Veto said.
Over the last two weeks, the search committee has brought three final candidates to Dartmouth to meet with members of the committee, deans and students.
Munafo said she was pleased with all the three candidates.
"They are all hirable, all really strong candidates," she said. "I feel we are in a much better place than we were last year."
Cassie Ehrenberg '96, the administrative intern to the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program, coordinated presentations the candidates are making to different student groups.
"This is a chance for the students to not only evaluate each candidate's presentation skills, but also to meet her in an informal setting," she said.
Lucke said students complete evaluations of the presentations to be considered by the search committee.
Members of the search committee include 1996 Class Dean Kate Burke, Maggie Chang '96, East Campus Area Director Chris Foley, Human Development Counselor Sandra Speigel, Director of Women's Health Jan Sundnas and Veto.
Veto's colleagues and friends said she will be missed.
"I think she has done a great job," Munafo said. "She's gotten better and better and does the job well."
