Coordinator of Peer Education Programs and of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Programming Bart Bingenheimer '94 is leaving his position next month, but the search for a replacement is well underway, and a decision will be announced next week.
Bingenheimer, who has held his job for nearly three years, said he will pursue a Masters degree in public health at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor beginning this fall. He said he would then like to return to a position in college health or work for a non-profit community health organization.
Director of Health Resources Gabrielle Lucke said "62 percent" of Bingenheimer's job is coordinating peer education programs at the College, such as Peer Education Action Corps training, as well as advising the Responsible AIDS Information at Dartmouth group, the Dartmouth Alcohol Peer Advisor Program and the Student Alcohol Education Network.
The other "38 percent" involves coordinating gay, lesbian and bisexual programming on campus, advising the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance and acting as an advocate for the DRA's support on campus.
According to Lucke, 65 people from around the country applied for Bingenheimer's position.
She said a search committee comprised of six administrators and two students reduced the original pool to 12 candidates by reviewing resumes. The process began Spring term and the committee advertised the position in newspapers and at national conferences.
Committee members then conducted telephone interviews and checked references of the 12 candidates before deciding on three final candidates to invite to campus.
Last week, the three candidates each presented and led a discussion about alcohol and college environments at different Greek houses where students had the opportunity to fill out evaluations about the candidates.
Lucke said 15 to 20 students attended each presentation.
"Student feedback has been a really important part of the search process," Lucke said. She said students were involved in several parts of the search -- as members on the search committee and as discussion participants and evaluators.
The candidates also met with members of the DRA, who were then asked for feedback.
Lucke said the search committee is now reviewing evaluations and prioritizing the three final candidates.
"We have to jump through some administrative hoops," she said. "But we hope to have an offer out sometime next week."
Lucke said Bingenheimer's last day will be Aug. 8, and ideally the new employee will begin a few days beforehand to learn from him.
"There really aren't a bunch of universities that have this kind of [gay, lesbian and bisexual] programming job," Bingenheimer said. "It is good for people with an interest in health education."
