College officials have installed an 10-person committee to select the replacement for acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears, Provost Carol Folt announced in an e-mail to members of the Dartmouth community Wednesday afternoon. The permanent Dean of the College will likely take over in July 2011, according to Folt.
Dean of the Faculty Michael Mastanduno will chair the committee, which consists of students, faculty and administrators, according to the e-mail.
Folt declined to say whether Spears will be considered for the permanent position in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"I wouldn't ever talk about any candidate," she said. "This is a position that is always searched nationally, and that has been our expectation from the start."
Student Body President Eric Tanner '11, Panhellenic Council President Anna Sonstegard '11, Native American studies professor Bruce Duthu, biology professor C. Robertson McClung, English professor Barbara Will, Director of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Evelynn Ellis, Athletic Director Harry Sheehy, Chief of Staff David Spalding and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris were chosen to serve on the committee.
Folt said she expects the search process to occur "between now and the end of Spring term."
"There's a lot of comprehensive reaching out to the people across the country," Folt said. "It's impossible to predict at this point the number of weeks it would take."
Although committee members have not yet held their first meeting, they will do so in the near future, Folt said.
Because the Dean of the College works closely with students, faculty and administrators, it was important to include representatives from all three groups in the search committee, Folt said.
"I think in a position like this, which is such an important position to the institution, you try to have some of your outstanding members of the community on the committee," she said.
The Dean of the College reports directly the provost and is responsible for overseeing student support services, counseling services, campus life programs, dining services, health services, judicial affairs and campus safety, according to Folt.
Spears was tapped for the acting position after former Dean of the College Tom Crady announced his resignation in August 2009, The Dartmouth previously reported. Spears was selected to oversee the Dean of the College's office for two years before an official search would begin.
As acting Dean of the College, Spears has worked to create new policies and programs aimed at reducing sexual abuse and alcohol-related harm at the College, The Dartmouth previously reported.
The College plans to implement its most recent initiatives including a nighttime safety shuttle, new training programs and a revised Social Events and Management Procedure later in January, although administrators may further change the policies after assessing them over Winter term, Spears previously told The Dartmouth.
Spears has also worked to create a new student advising structure that will be implemented in Fall term 2011. The new organization will centralize undergraduate advising services in one location in order to streamline access to advising information and provide consistency among the offices in the new framework, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Spears reorganized the Dean of the College's Office last February in order to create a more efficient structure that would have "fewer dean-level positions at the senior leadership level," Spears previously told The Dartmouth. The restructuring is part of the College's effort to cut $100 million from its budget over a two-year period.
"In terms of programs and services next year and over time, I hope that students will feel that their needs are even better met," Spears previously said of the restructuring. "This reorganization of the Dean of the College division was appropriate and, I think, necessary regardless of budget cuts."
When she was chosen for the role, Spears said her highest priorities as acting Dean of the College were to "stabilize the [Dean of the College] division as best as possible" and to manage the arrival of new and returning students to the College for the Fall term.
"Our meetings are almost meetings of equals," Tanner said of his interactions with Spears. "That's the kind of relationship that I think is really successful between students and administrators."
Spears served as director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership as well as acting senior associate Dean of the College before she was named acting dean.
Prior to her arrival at Dartmouth, Spears held a variety of positions, including fitness center manager and tribal administrator of the narragansett Indian Tribe, of which she is a member, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Ellis, Will and McClung declined to comment for this article. Sonstegard, Duthu and Mastanduno could not be reached for comment by press time.
