A year after microbiology and immunology professor William Green began a non-renewable term as Dartmouth Medical School dean following the abrupt resignation of Stephen Spielberg last January, the College has yet to begin a search for a new dean. The search will not begin until the Bard Group, a private consulting company, finishes its review of the medical school's organizational and operational structure, according to Dartmouth Provost Barry Scherr. Green will return to his post as chair of microbiology and immunology after the review is complete and a new dean is named.
The Massachusetts-based Bard Group began its survey in the late summer and will finish its report sometime this academic year, Scherr said. Points of review will include DMS' leadership structure and the way the medical school interacts with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and other affiliated clinics in the area, according to Scherr.
Following the completion of Bard's analysis, the College will decide whether to change the organizational structure of DMS before beginning a search process, Scherr said.
Because the consultants are still in the process of reviewing the school, he explained, it is unclear what may need restructuring.
"It's hard to specify until we get that report from the Bard Group," Scherr said. "After that, we make decisions."
The College implemented the review process because administrators felt that the medical school's composition needed to be examined, Scherr said.
"It did seem like it was about time to take a look at this," Scherr said. "We didn't want to do this while looking for a new dean."
The dean position will be more appealing to potential candidates if DMS can make improvements based on any Bard recommendations, according to anatomy department chairman Rand Swenson. Recruiting applicants right now would be challenging because of the ongoing review process and the national economic downturn, Swenson said.
"We're hopeful that Dean Green will help iron out some of those issues," Swenson said, referring to problems the Bard Group may identify.
It is also possible that the consultants will not make any recommendations regarding the organization of DMS, Scherr said.
After the Bard analysis concludes, Scherr and the College's next president will organize a search committee, which will include professors and administrators from DMS, to help identify a new dean, Scherr said.
Committee members will not be appointed until after the current College presidential search is complete.
Scherr said the dean search will not be delayed by the financial crisis.
The search will consider candidates from outside Dartmouth, Scherr explained, even if the College's current hiring freeze is still in place when it begins.
Green declined to provide The Dartmouth with comment for this article.
