Following staff member departures and the creation of several new positions, the Dean of the College division is now in the process of filling 17 administrative and assistant-level positions, according to College officials interviewed by The Dartmouth.
The vacancies have forced some staff members to assume more work than they would otherwise take on, acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears said.
"We've had to work differently," Spears said. "[Division staff members] have indeed taken on more responsibilities to ensure that Dartmouth students' experience is affected as little as possible."
College President Jim Yong Kim said in an interview with The Dartmouth Editorial Board that the Dean of the College division is in "transition." Kim said the openings are an "amazing opportunity" to increase the diversity of the staff, but acknowledged that it will be "really difficult" to fill the positions.
Many of the openings such as a second drug and alcohol counselor position are new positions created under Kim's student health initiatives, according to Spears. Other positions are empty due to staff departures, such as that of Samantha Ivery, acting director of the Center for Women and Gender, assistant dean of student life, and advisor to black students, who will leave the College in June.
The large number of open positions is abnormal, particularly since a number of the positions are newly-created, Spears said.
Budget cuts have directly contributed to the numerous vacancies that remain unfilled over the past several years, according to Pam Misener, acting director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and advisor to LGBTQ students. Several former OPAL staff members opted to take advantage of the College's recently-instated early retirement plans, and the College has been reluctant to allow departments to hire new staff due to budget concerns, she said.
Certain departments may be returning to a more "normal cycle," as the College's notification that OPAL could begin its search for a replacement quickly followed Ivery's decision to resign, Misener said.
Student Accessibility Services has been strained by staffing shortages and was relieved to receive Spears' permission to create a new assistant director position, according to office manager Holly Potter. Whoever fills the position will focus on providing student services so that Accessibility Services Director Ward Newmeyer can pay more attention to broader institutional concerns, Potter said.
"The workload is too great for the people there now," she said. "[Newmeyer] has been dealing with the full load of supporting students for five years, and fortunately [Spears] has seen to it that we have been given permission to help Ward out because it's way more than one person can deal with."
The impact of these vacant positions on student life at the College is hard to gauge, Potter said. The Dean of the College division as a whole would run much more smoothly if more staff were hired, she said.
"If we as a division are able to fill all the positions that are currently open, we could run as a division like a finely-tuned engine," Potter said. "I don't think we're in a position to do that right now."
Ivery said that she, Misener and Nora Yasumura, advisor to Asian and Asian-American students and acting Latino community liaison, have each had to take on "two full-time jobs." She described their time as "packed" and said that it has been difficult for OPAL to accommodate students' needs.
"Having people do two full-time jobs for a year is not a healthy model it's not a sustainable model," Misener said.
Working two jobs has impeded her ability to be fully available to students in her role as advisor to LGBTQ students, Misener said. It has been difficult to attend LGBTQ events or spend time meeting freshmen, she said.
"These days, I'm juggling so fast, all I can do is pay attention to the balls that are in the air," she said. "[If] students have this great idea, I can still support that idea, but I can't roll up my sleeves and really get into it with them."
There are currently three openings in Career Services, according to acting Co-Director Monica Wilson. One of the open positions, a new full-time recruiting advisor, would help ease "a very heavy load" that Career Services staff members have been shouldering, Wilson said.
Wilson said the positions at Career Services are vacant for different reasons, and that she is unsure of the overall effect that the increased workloads have had on her office's operations or on student services.
Most division administrators contacted by The Dartmouth declined to comment for this article, including Director of Undergraduate Housing Rachel Class-Giguere, Director of Administration for the Dean of the College's Office Gavin Henning, acting Associate Executive Officer for the Dean of the College's Office Emily Eckels, Director of Information Services for the Dean of the College's Office Gail Wallin, Assistant Dean of the College for Development and Administration Tracy Walsh, Advisor to Asian and Asian-American Students and the Latino Community Liason Nora Yasumura and International Student Programs Director Steve Silver.
Four other administrators did not respond to comment by press time.
