Outgoing Provost Barry Scherr and Steven Kadish, Kim's senior vice president and strategic advisor, have led President Jim Yong Kim's transition to the presidency in recent weeks, working to familiarize Kim with the College. Since assuming his post June 15, Kadish said he has studied the operations of the College, but has not developed any tangible policies to recommend to the incoming administration.
Kadish, who has no previous affiliation with the College, said he is working to develop a more complete understanding of the institution so that he can help Kim guide Dartmouth in the future.
Kadish said it will be several months before his plans and impressions of what ought to be changed on campus will begin to coalesce.
In addition to reading about Dartmouth's campus and history, Kadish has been attending meetings over the past two weeks with administrators, including the staff of the President's Office and Dean of the College Tom Crady. He has also met with members of the Hanover Police and fire departments, he said.
"The answers to questions about initiatives and what's working on the Dartmouth campus will begin to emerge after we've been thoughtful listeners," Kadish said of himself and Kim.
College initiatives, such as construction projects, will carry over from outgoing College President James Wright's presidency, Scherr said.
Kadish, a self-proclaimed "note-taker," said he has geared his efforts towards devising a "strategy of learning" which he and Kim can use to become familiar with the College.
In May, Kadish told The Dartmouth he planned to "meet 10 people every day." While he has become acquainted with many administrators, he has so far met few faculty or students, Kadish said in an interview with The Dartmouth early this week.
In an effort to broaden his exposure to students, Kadish said he planned to attend the Tucker Foundation Volunteer Fair on Monday, although he said he felt it would be "weird" to spontaneously introduce himself to students while at that function, and that he intended to refrain from doing so.
Since Kim's selection in March, Scherr's transition team has scheduled meetings between Kim and various administrative departments on an almost-weekly basis, Scherr said.
"At this point we're basically working to help set up events and taking care of the scheduling," Scherr said. "As [Kim's installation] is getting closer, we've spent a lot of time thinking about the first couple of weeks in July."
Because Kim's responsibilities at Harvard University often prevented him from coming to campus himself, those meetings primarily took place in Boston, Scherr previously told The Dartmouth. Scherr also said that he will continue in his post as Provost until Kim is comfortable in his new position, adding that he may remain at the College until Spring 2010.
Kadish said he expects to identify areas in which there is room for improvement, although he is not yet sure what those areas will be.
"I know enough now that when I see something, I want to believe there's a reason for it to have occurred in that way," Kadish said. "If it doesn't work, I ask why it's not working the way it looks like it should be."
From his previous work as the director of global health equity at Harvard University-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, Kadish said he is familiar with budgets, tenure and the basic components of an academic institution. One of the ways Kadish is supplementing that knowledge is by examining administrative protocol for responding to occurrences like the emergence of the H1N1 virus, he said.
"I feel like I'm taking courses and getting lessons," Kadish said.
