Kim's tour, overseen by the U.S. Treasury, aims to solicit the ideas of various heads of state and finance ministers of stakeholding countries of the World Bank, according to the Treasury release. Various news sources have reported that the tour is also designed to promote Kim's campaign against two other candidates for the position Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo.
On the tour, Kim will visit Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Beijing; Tokyo; Seoul, South Korea; New Delhi, India; Brasilia, Brazil; and Mexico City, according to the Treasury release.
Kim's extended absence for the listening tour is not out of the ordinary, according to Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson.
"He is not physically present on campus much of the time because one of his primary duties is to raise funds for the institution," she said, though she noted that his usual absences tend to be briefer than this tour.
Johnson emphasized that Kim has established a structure of senior administrators who can run the College's "day-to-day operations" in his absence and said that he is in constant communication with his staff while traveling.
"[Kim] relies on his senior officers, people like me, and he relies on their expertise, and he relies on us to do our jobs in his absence," Johnson said. "Our jobs, quite frankly, when you take all of the work from the portfolios of the senior officers together, we, under [Kim]'s leadership and his vision, run the day-to-day operations of this institution."
Johnson declined to comment on the possibility of future absences for other duties required of a World Bank presidential candidate after the tour ends but emphasized the ability of the College to "maintain [its] momentum" without Kim's physical presence.
Professors interviewed by The Dartmouth said they are confident that Kim's tour will not negatively impact the operations of the College, but many professors contacted declined to comment.
"Faculty continue to conduct their research and teach their classes," psychological and brain sciences professor Todd Heatherton said in an email to The Dartmouth. "Faculty and student deans attend to the business at hand, strategic planning continues full steam ahead in the provost's office and we move forward as an institution to look for ways to strengthen what is already one of the world's premiere educational institutions."
Chair of the government department John Carey voiced similar confidence that the College's operations will be unaffected by Kim's absence. He added that although Kim's absence will be particularly "tough" for Dartmouth in the coming weeks, there is never a convenient time for Kim to be gone.
"At Dartmouth, we have to figure out a way to address the issues that we face on campus with a bit less involvement from the president and then, ultimately, probably with an interim president for a while," Carey said in an email to The Dartmouth.
Although most students interviewed expressed their pride in Kim's nomination and ensuing commitments, some said they were concerned that his tour coincides with the publication of a Rolling Stone magazine article about hazing on campus.
Eliana Piper '14 said that she expects the Rolling Stone article to raise national awareness of the hazing controversy at Dartmouth, requiring action by the College.
"It's hard to effectively deal with the backlash of the article without the person who's supposed to be leading the school," Piper said.
Morgan Weller '14 voiced similar concerns over the absence of at least a symbolic leader, but added that as other senior administrators are still present, her concern could be due to a preconceived notion of the need for a visible leader.
Kara Alaimo, spokesperson of International Affairs for the U.S. Treasury, who is accompanying Kim on his listening tour, declined to comment and said Kim was not available for comment.
