Dartmouth's presidential search committee has presented the criteria it will use to select the College's president, releasing a formal leadership statement on Tuesday night. The statement asserts that the next president must articulate a comprehensive vision for Dartmouth that would strengthen the academic reputation of the College and its professional schools, while building consensus among students, faculty and alumni.
The statement calls for candidates that have demonstrated a commitment to teaching and academic inquiry, as well as experience recruiting strong faculty, noting that Dartmouth's next president will make major decisions about the composition and size of the faculty. The document further states that, in order to strengthen Dartmouth's faculty and academic institutions, the next president will have to articulate a resource-allocation strategy.
As a result, the search committee will look for candidates with experience in making strategic choices, "demonstrated by moving resources to fundamentally strengthen organizations," the statement says.
"Dartmouth must systematically make strategic choices, managing budgets with great care and allocating resources to their best and highest use, a complex task in a small community," the document reads. "The setting will highlight both excellent results and those that fall short. Presidential leadership makes choice and change possible."
The committee also emphasizes the importance of allocating resources to strengthen Dartmouth's doctoral programs and professional schools -- Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering and the Tuck School of Business. The statement calls for candidates with a commitment to graduate education and experience with graduate-level institutions.
Specifically, the committee states that it is looking for candidates who have experience with and knowledge of medical schools, and "an appreciation for their complexity and the opportunities they offer to higher education and to society." The statement also contends that issues pertaining to the Medical School and the College's relationship with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center will "figure prominently in the President's agenda."
In addition, the next president will work to integrate the undergraduate and graduate programs at the College, the statement says.The committee also states that "a powerful affinity for and commitment to the mission and values of Dartmouth College," is a necessary qualification for the next president.
This does not mean that candidates must have had a previous relationship with the College, according to Al Mulley '70, chair of the search committee and member of Dartmouth's Board of Trustees. Instead, he said, it means that all candidates must understand Dartmouth's core values. Students and faculty expressed to the committee a desire for a president with a relationship to Dartmouth or knowledge of its traditions.
"Firsthand familiarity might make that [understanding] already present, but it's the job of the search committee to understand fully the mission and values of the College and to recognize in an individual when those values resonate," Mulley said.
"The Board believes that there are large opportunities for cross-collaboration across schools and with the Arts and Sciences faculty," the statement reads, adding later, "The next administration should conduct a careful strategic review of graduate education and should substantially strengthen its position."
Mulley said the committee's leadership statement conveys the diversity of the College's academic institutions and programs. He added that the committee is looking for candidates who would be able to strengthen all of the College's academic programs.
"[The graduate schools] show why Dartmouth is so distinctive," he added. "We'll be looking for somebody who will be committed to excellence across the full range."
The statement also addresses alumni relations and the recent controversy surrounding Dartmouth governance, noting that the next president will preside over the expansion of the Board of Trustees. The committee, according to the statement, is looking for a candidate that can communicate a singular vision for Dartmouth that will resonate with students, faculty, trustees and alumni.
Additionally, the document calls for a president who has a "fair, collaborative and transparent leadership style."
"[Shared governance is] going to be very important for the next president because of what we've been through," Mulley said, referring to the governance controversy. "Shared governance represents an acknowledgement that colleges and universities are much different from corporations in how they are run."
Mulley said he was hesitant to comment on how the next president might compare with College President James Wright or with any other past Dartmouth presidents because he wants the committee to work with a clean slate.
"Examining the qualifications of the current [president] is not a good way to look forward," Mulley said.
The committee will hold additional meetings with different members of the Dartmouth community to hear their responses to the document and expects to narrow the search down to between eight and 12 candidates by January 2009.
