Dean of the College James Larimore may be leaving Dartmouth in the near future for Swarthmore College, where he was named a finalist for the position of Dean of Students last Friday.
According to Larimore, who said that he had not decided whether he would take the job if it were offered to him, a Swarthmore search consultant contacted him about the position several months ago, but he only agreed to be considered as a candidate late last week.
He said that, if selected, one of his biggest considerations will be "trying to understand whether the dean is able to have more of an impact at a smaller school."
The Dean of Students at Swarthmore has more academic responsibilities and influence than does the Dean of the College at Dartmouth. Both deans are in charge of residential life and student affairs at their respective schools, overseeing many lower deans whose jobs deal with advising, diversity and social life, but the Swarthmore Dean of Students also chairs the Committee on Academic Requirements. Although Dartmouth does not have a committee with that name, the administrator responsible for those academic matters at Dartmouth is Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt, College Provost Barry Scherr said.
Larimore also said that travel responsibilities would be a significant consideration. The dean, who has two young sons with his wife Karen, said that his current job requires a lot of travel largely due to the Dartmouth Capital Campaign. If the Swarthmore position were not as travel-intensive, Larimore said, he would able to be a better father, husband and dean.
Larimore took over his current position in July 1999 and since has been a significant player in College President James Wright's administration. According to Wright, Larimore has been integral in overseeing the student body, planning construction projects on-campus and working with deans to improve communication between the College and greek houses. The president praised Larimore for "making Dartmouth a welcoming environment for an increasingly diverse student body."
"I really don't think I've ever had a dispute or a difference with Jim Larimore," Wright said.
Despite his interest in the Swarthmore position, Larimore said that he has not been looking to leave Dartmouth, pointing out that he did not actively seek out this opportunity and was persuaded by the search consultant to become a candidate.
Although Larimore said he is happy with his current job, he expressed frustration at the pace with which projects and initiatives have been completed at Dartmouth. Citing the numerous construction efforts currently in progress and the initiatives to improve athletic and recreational facilities, the dean said that he wished many of those long-term projects aimed to improve student life had already been realized.
"I have some pretty big aspirations for the place and for what the student experience here can be," he said. "I'm always going to feel like we can be doing more than we're doing or can be doing something better than we are."
Larimore will head to Swarthmore next week for a series of meetings and interviews, and the search committee hopes to make a decision about two weeks after that, said Swarthmore Provost Connie Hungerford, who is also the chairwoman of the Dean Search Committee. The other four finalists are Timothy W. Foster, the Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs at Bowdoin College, Gladstone Hutchinson, the Dean of Studies and associate professor of economics and business at Lafayette College, Kathryn Stuart, the Dean of Studies at Oberlin College and James Terhune, the Dean of Student Affairs at Colgate University.
