While we assumed that the arrival of a new College president would naturally lead to some adjustments within Parkhurst Hall, the College administration now appears to be entering a period of transition. Six weeks after College President Jim Yong Kim assumed office, Dean of the College Tom Crady has now announced his resignation from a post he held for just 20 months ("Crady Resigns as Dean of the College" Aug. 18).
While current director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and acting senior associate Dean of the College Sylvia Spears will fill that post for the next two years, the position will see a more permanent change two summers from now, just months after Provost Barry Scherr plans to vacate his administrative position.
It is the incoming freshman class that will be here to experience the entirety of this turnover. When they arrive in September, the Class of 2013 will encounter few visible top administrators who will maintain their roles from the class' orientation through to its commencement.
As students committed financially, academically and emotionally to the College, many of us are left questioning how exactly these administrative changes will play out. In his time at the College, Crady set a precedent for direct and honest conversation with students holding office hours in the Collis Center each week to ensure that students could speak with him in the comfort of their own space, and working closely with the College's Greek organizations.
As the College moves forward in the wake of his departure, we hope that this sort of conversation between administrators and students about Dartmouth and the College's future will continue. Given her history in student relations at the College, Spears has experience with that dimension of the dean's role but we, as students, will also desire a more permanent point of contact.
Since accepting the position of College president in March, Kim has consistently emphasized the importance of a working relationship between his office and the student body. And, in the first few weeks of his presidency, Kim seems to have sought to live up to this goal, holding frequent conversations with student leaders from groups across campus.
But while meeting with campus leaders from Greek organization presidents, to intramural sports leaders, to the executive board of the Dartmouth Coalition for Global Health ("During First Week, Kim meets students, faculty," July 10) represents admirable outreach to students, Kim will need to be particularly proactive about presenting a consistent, clear front to all those on campus perhaps even more so than a typical college president given the administrative change Dartmouth will see in the coming years.
President Kim, your summer vacation the two months of grace period that you spent working at the crucial task of gaining a full understanding of the College is now coming to a close. As other administrative positions are reviewed and restaffed, you should now be the new face of Dartmouth not only to the outside world, but to the student body as well.
We look to you as the administration enters a new phase.
