Jean Kim, a former dean at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., is one of at least four finalists in the search for Dartmouth's next Dean of the College, having visited campus last week for meetings. During her tenure at Puget Sound, Kim had a reputation of being highly engaged with students and administrators, though some student leaders noted a perception on campus that she was "disconnected." Kim resigned from Puget Sound in November for "personal reasons."
"For the most part I thought she was great," said Puget Sound student body president Van Lang Pham, a senior at the university. "There may have been times when she had trouble connecting with students, but I don't have any direct knowledge or direct experience with that."
Brandon Lueken, editor of Puget Sound student newspaper The Trail, described what he saw as a disconnect between Kim and the students.
"I felt that she tried to connect with students as she had open office hours, but most students I know didn't like connecting with her," Lueken said. "They felt that they couldn't talk to her -- people didn't get a sense of what she does, as opposed to the current dean."
Kim, who received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has served in student life administration at a variety of institutions including Western New England College, Stanford University, the University of Hartford and the University of Colorado at Boulder. She also worked in the private sector as a management consultant, "where her work has focused on strategic planning and fostering diversity in the workplace," according to a statement from Puget Sound.
At Puget Sound, Kim served as vice president of student affairs and dean of students from May 2005 until her resignation in November 2006. Melissa Rohlfs, spokesman for the university, explained that Kim resigned for "personal reasons."
"I do know she has an elderly parent on the East Coast and that played a role in her decision to leave," Rohlfs said.
Kim could not be reached by press time.
Students who worked closely with Kim confirmed that she left her job there because of family obligations, but were still surprised by the nature of her resignation.
"If there was anything that was somewhat negative about her time at the university it was the abrupt way she left," Pham said.
Pham explained that he met with Kim at least once a week in his capacity as student body president, yet received no indication from her that she was planning to leave.
Despite her abrupt departure, students and administrators praised her engagement with the student body and her administrative initiative.
"She accomplished a great deal during her two years at Puget Sound, including helping to secure a $100,0000 Mellon Foundation grant for residence-based academic programs, leading a faculty-student life task force on integrated learning outcomes and chairing a diversity strategic plan task force," Rohlfs wrote in an e-mail. "She was an active member of our campus community and demonstrated great care and commitment to our students."
Alexander Israel, a Puget Sound graduate and the student body president prior to Pham, recalled Kim's first semester at the university when she went door-to-door to every residence hall on campus and spent the night in each hall to become acquainted with student life.
"She was fully engaged with the student body and fully engaged with their activities -- I do not feel there was a disconnect," Israel said. "I absolutely think she was a positive influence on the school. I don't think a student body anywhere can ask for anything better," Israel said.
This level of engagement allowed Kim to deal with emotionally charged issues on campus, Israel said.
"From alcohol and drug issues to sexual assault issues, she made sure [the issues] were handled correctly and appropriately," he said.
The Dean of the College search process began after former Dean of the College James Larimore accepted a dean of students post at Swarthmore College last May. A search committee headed by College Provost Barry Scherr was formed in July and aims to have a new dean start working at Dartmouth by the Summer term.
