"President Kim was hired externally, and having a provost with a deep knowledge of Dartmouth would complement [Kim] well," Marion said.
The next provost will fill the seat left by former Provost Barry Scherr, who stepped down from the position in October. Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt has served as acting provost since Oct. 15.
Marion and Kim decided the next provost should come from within the Dartmouth community after they conducted an examination of Ivy League institutions, which determined that hiring a provost from within universities has been a common practice, according to Marion.
"Among our Ivy-plus peers, 93 percent of provosts are internal," Kim said. "That's especially important when presidents come from the outside."
Kim previously described Folt as a "very strong candidate" for permanent Provost in an interview with The Dartmouth in October.
Administrators have not determined a specific timeline for nominating the next provost, but Kim has asked the search committee to "move as expeditiously as possible," he said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
The committee hopes to deliver a final recommendation to Kim by the beginning of the next academic year, Marion said, adding that the date is subject to change.
"We want to move quickly, but we want to be deliberative about it," she said.
Throughout the selection process, the committee will rely heavily on the provost job description outlined by Kim in his e-mail to the Dartmouth community, Marion said. The job is technically open to any applicant, but experienced Dartmouth professors have the best chance of being selected, Kim said in the e-mail, which was addressed to a group of "colleagues and members of the Dartmouth community."
The provost is the "chief academic officer of Dartmouth College," according to Kim. The provost also oversees all programs and aspects of the administration that pertain to student life, and is an important figure in College strategic planning.
"I think we want someone who is an outstanding scholar, who has had lots of important and effective administrator experience," Kim said in the interview. "It's important that the next provost will understand Dartmouth very well."
After receiving nominations from throughout the Dartmouth community, the full committee will vet potential candidates and select a pool of nominees with whom to begin the interview process. The committee will make a final recommendation of "two or three" names to Kim, who will ultimately choose the provost, according to Marion.
Six other faculty members representing graduate and undergraduate programs were tapped to serve on the selection committee, which will begin to meet regularly after nominations for provost are submitted, Marion said.
Thayer School of Engineering professor Ian Baker, Tuck School of Business professor Robert Hansen, Dartmouth Medical School professor Leslie Henderson, comparative literature professor Lynn Higgins, environmental studies professor Ross Virginia and geography professor Richard Wright are serving on the committee, according to the e-mail.
"These are outstanding members of the faculty who have been in important leadership positions," Kim said in the interview.
Kim selected the three undergraduate faculty members from a list provided by the Committee on Organization and Policy, in accordance with the standard procedure for provost selection established in 1988. Kim appointed the representatives of Thayer, Tuck and DMS through recommendations from the deans of each school, and selected Marion largely because of her work serving on the Committee on Priorities, he said.
The Committee on Priorities communicates faculty opinions about budget issues to the administration.
In order to grant the committee a certain degree of autonomy, College administrators will allow committee members to determine their own procedure for assessing candidates, according to Kim.
"It's an internal process, and I have full faith in the committee to come up with a procedure that will be effective," he said. "Other than maybe a little bit of logistical help, like finding rooms, the committee is independent and has a clear charge."
Scherr stepped down as provost to pursue academic work and to write a book, The Dartmouth previously reported.
