The transition process will begin this month as Pyramid employees visit and evaluate current conditions at the Inn, Olsen said.
"The Inn has changed over the past 200 years and this is part of its ongoing evolution," Senior Vice President Steven Kadish said in an e-mail to the Dartmouth community on Friday.
Dartmouth employees at the Inn who elect to become Pyramid employees will likely receive the same compensation levels as before, although ultimate decisions on pay will come from Pyramid, according to Olsen.
"I don't expect that there will be any difference in what people are paid," he said.
Any positions left vacant by employees who choose to leave due to the transition will likely be filled, although Pyramid will ultimately determine staff levels, according to Olsen.
"I don't think that there is a sense that there are too many employees at the Hanover Inn," Olsen said.
Inn employees were not directly consulted in the decision to change management, but the College discussed the possibility of outsourcing to a hotel management group with the Service Employees International Union, of which most Inn employees are members, Olsen said.
"So in the broader sense, yes, the College did engage with these employees," he said.
Although compensation levels are expected to remain unchanged, benefit packages must still be negotiated with the SEIU, according to Carl Pratt, the Inn's general manager.
"That's not something we know specifically about," Pratt said.
New management will allow for outside expertise to enhance the daily operations of the Inn, Kadish said in the e-mail.
"We believe that Pyramid brings a number of benefits, including breadth of experience that ensures familiarity with industry best practices; access to the newest systems for hotel operations; improved purchasing power for hotel-specific goods and services; and growth potential for talented employees," he wrote.
Although Pyramid's expertise will bring significant advantages, day-to-day operations at the Inn will likely remain largely unchanged, according to Pratt.
"Things are pretty much in place," he said.
Pyramid will report to the College's campus planning and facilities department. The firm's employees will oversee the rooms and the reservation process at the Inn, as well as the restaurants Zins wine bistro, The Daniel Webster Room and The Terrace operated within the hotel, Kadish said in the e-mail.
The decision to hire a management firm came after College officials announced in April that the Inn had lost money over the past few years. Administrators hired outside agencies to oversee the Inn's finances to allow the College to focus its resources on research and education, Kadish said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
The management firm will work alongside real estate firm Carpenter & Company, which has acted as the asset manager of the Inn since April.
Pyramid, which could not be reached for comment by press time, currently manages over 50 hotels across the country, including hotels at other institutions including Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.
