Dean of Faculty Carol Folt has been appointed acting provost, College President Jim Yong Kim announced in a campus-wide e-mail on Wednesday. Folt will replace Provost Barry Scherr, who will step down on Oct. 26 after eight years in that position.
Folt, who will continue to serve as Dean of the Faculty while filling the provost position, praised the associate deans and senior level administrators in the Provost's Office and the Dean of the Faculty Office, and said those individuals would make operations run "seamlessly" while she serves in both capacities.
Folt said she hopes to "achieve synergies" to promote efficiency and cooperation among different areas of the College as provost. Budgetary issues, she said, can be overcome through strategic and "prudent management" of resources.
Scherr, who was originally to remain provost until June 2011 at the latest, will now step down to pursue his academic work and write a book, Kim said.
Financial difficulties accelerated Kim's transition process, allowing Scherr to depart earlier than originally planned, Kim said. That transition process is now completed, he said.
"We can't be in transition anymore," Kim said.
Scherr is the latest in a series of high-level College officials to announce their departures in the last few months. Scherr's announcement follows the abrupt resignation of former Dean of the College Tom Crady in August. Former Dean of Undergraduate Students Rovana Popoff announced her departure from the College in September. Former Dean of First-Year Students Gail Zimmerman was laid off at the end of February, after the implementation of College-wide budget cuts. Assistant Dean of First-Year Students Meg Hancock's one-year contract was also not renewed for this year.
Kim said he hopes to appoint a permanent provost within the next academic year after a committee of faculty and administrators completes the search process.
The search will include international candidates, Kim said, adding that the committee will also look within the College to fill the position. Kim described Folt as a "very strong candidate."
Folt said she is not yet sure whether she will apply for the permanent position.
"I think it's a little bit too early to talk about that," she said.
Folt, the Dartmouth Professor of Biological Sciences, has served as a senior administrator since 2001, when she was named dean of graduate studies and associate Dean of Faculty for interdisciplinary programs. She was named interim Dean of Faculty in 2004, and was appointed to the permanent position in 2006.
An expert on metal toxicity, Folt is also the associate director of Dartmouth's Superfund Basic Research Program, a study that has received more than $40 million in federal research grants.
As Dean of Faculty, Folt has been responsible for attracting and retaining faculty. While the College has lost several high-profile faculty members in the past several years, Folt said in a speech to Student Assembly in January that faculty retention rates remain "healthy" and comparable to peer institutions.
Scherr, in conjunction with Folt, will continue to coordinate the College's re-accreditation process through the end of this year, Kim said.
Scherr will continue to serve as the Mandel Family Professor of Russian at the College.
