Newly appointed College President Jim Yong Kim just two months into his term has had to contend with administrative turnover while working to become acquainted with the College's complex financial and management structure.
Kim, in an interview with The Dartmouth on Monday, said his main goal thus far has been to learn about the workings of the College, exploring how students and faculty members think about different issues.
Kim began his tenure as College president on July 1 and will be formally inaugurated on Sept. 22.
Dartmouth's presidency is not a "quick transition job" that requires taking action within an early, narrow window, Kim said.
"The president of the College doesn't come in and make changes at his personal whim," he said. "It's very difficult to lead off on a project if the faculty aren't behind it."
One of his most important challenges, Kim said, has been to familiarize himself with the College's financial situation. All colleges and universities have been forced to cope with shrinking endowments and have sought new ways to communicate the value of higher education to financially burdened potential students.
Kim's first few months at the College have also been marked by administrative turnover: Dean of the College Tom Crady announced his abrupt departure in August, and Dean of Undergraduate Students Rovana Popoff announced on Monday that she would leave the College to return to the University of Chicago.
Sylvia Spears, former director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and acting senior associate dean of the College, is slated to serve as acting Dean of the College for the next two years, when a permanent dean will fill that position. The end of Spears' interim term may coincide with the departure of Provost Barry Scherr, who will step down from that position in June 2011.
Kim acknowledged that there have been significant transitions in the College administration, but said he has confidence in the people assuming new administrative roles. Developing a cohesive team takes time, Kim said, explaining that a College president cannot import an entire leadership team as the president of a business would.
"You don't do that it doesn't make any sense at a place that requires insider's knowledge so much," he said. "We will become closer as a team as we take on major challenges going forward."
Student Body President Frances Vernon '10 said that while she has not discussed with Kim his goals for the College's management, she said she believes Kim is focused on improving the structure of the administration.
College policies have a better chance of success with the right people in the right places to address problems, Vernon said.
"Anyone can look at the Dean of the College office right now, and there's a lot of transition going on," Vernon said. "Even before you start to address a problem, you have to make sure that [an] efficient management system is in place."
Kim said he began to develop relationships with many of the College's key administrators during Summer term. Kim noted that he has already collaborated with officials at Dartmouth Medical School to help them with their strategic planning and discussed research findings with faculty at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
Although he said he has gotten to know division leaders and deans in the different schools "quite well," Kim said he has yet to meet as many faculty members and students as he had hoped. He did note that he has met with some of the athletes and student researchers on campus over the past two months.
Kim said his conversations and meetings with members of the Dartmouth community are intended to help him learn about the aspirations of each group before he develops more substantive plans.
"You have to understand that [these discussions are] just the beginning; I'm going to have a lot more of them," Kim said. "When I sit with them, I'm not just making policy decisions. We're a long way from that."
Vernon said that she met with Kim in June, prior to the start of his term, to present the Student Assembly Visions Report and acquaint Kim with various aspects of the College. She said she also developed plans to meet with Kim and Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt about Dartmouth's academics.
Several Greek leaders have had preliminary meetings with Kim centered on building a positive working relationship, Interfraternity Council President Zachary Gottlieb '10 told The Dartmouth. Kim has discussed long-term goals like increasing positive programming and improving the "problematic" aspects of Greek life, but students have deferred talk on specific policy details.
"We haven't quite established the focus of our discussions," Gottlieb said. "I don't think we've yet reached that level of specificity with him. I think that's what the fall is all about."
Gottlieb is a staff columnist for The Dartmouth.
