Dartmouth registrar Polly Griffin will be heading south after this academic year to take the same position at Princeton University. Princeton recently announced that she will succeed longtime registrar Joseph Greenberg who died in November 2005. Her appointment is effective Aug. 1.
Griffin came to Dartmouth as registrar in 1999 after having served in the same capacity at Davidson College for seven years.
According to Princeton University News, Griffin's job at Princeton will closely resemble hers at Dartmouth, as she will organize and coordinate class scheduling, grading, transfer credit approval and degree certification as well as orchestrate faculty elections, set up the academic calendar and put together the academic catalog along with a handful of other duties.
During her time at the College, Griffin also served on a range of committees, including the Faculty Committee on Instruction, the Committee of Chairs, the Project Management Committee for administrative student systems, the Enrollment Management Committee and the Steering Committee for NCAA Recertification.
"A proven leader with exceptional management skills, the highest standards and an outstanding record of service to students and faculty, [Griffin] is just the right person to build on Joe Greenberg's legacy and take the registrar's office to new levels of effectiveness in the years ahead," said Dean of the College at Princeton Nancy Malkiel, who led the search for a new registrar.
In Griffin's application for the Princeton job, she said that her respect for the former Princeton registrar and his staff made the prospect of leading the office "particularly special."
"Princeton is focusing on issues fundamental to higher education in this country and hence the world," Griffin said. "Doing my part to participate in and support these important institutional conversations is professionally and personally compelling."
Nonetheless, Griffin expressed sadness at leaving her home for the last seven years.
"I leave a chunk of my heart here at Dartmouth," she said.