The Office of Pluralism and Leadership expects to hire a permanent advisor to black students on July 1 and a Pan-Asian advisor by August 1, according to OPAL Director Alysson Satterlund. The office also has created a new leadership and community coordinator position that will be staffed by Sept. 1 in order to strengthen and further leadership opportunities offered by OPAL, Satterlund said.
Concern about the College's retention of minority staff remains an important consideration in filling these positions, according to members of the College community interviewed by The Dartmouth.
The search processes for both advising positions come in the wake of the recent departures of advisor to black students Quantrell Willis and advisor to Asian and Asian-American students Nora Yasumura. Willis resigned in November after five months at the College due to personal reasons, and Yasumura left her post in March after 13 years at the College to work at Iora Health.
"We are almost at a full complement of staff now, so this is an incredibly exciting time for OPAL," Associate Dean of the College for Student Academic Support Services Inge-Lise Ameer said. "The search processes give us an opportunity to pursue our main priorities to find individuals who can serve students in underrepresented and underserved communities to be academically successful and to educate our campus about social justice."
Ameer directly oversees the OPAL office.
ADVISOR TO BLACK STUDENTS SEARCH
The search process for a new advisor to black students began in February when a national job listing was posted online, according to Satterlund. OPAL plans to invite a final round of candidates to campus by the end of May to meet with students, faculty and other community members, she said.
The search committee for a new advisor met for the first time on Monday and will continue to meet weekly during the candidate evaluation process. OPAL hopes to secure an individual who will be ready to begin the post by July 1, according to Satterlund.
"The candidate pool looks really competitive, so we're hopeful," Satterlund said.
The search committee includes African and African-American Studies professor Antonio Tillis; Derrika Mobley '10; Collis program coordinator Shayla Mars '11; President of the Afro-American Society Nikkita McPherson '13; the student intern in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity; and Director of International Student Programs Steve Silver. Satterlund is chairing the committee.
To supplement the committee, OPAL is seeking campus input by hosting two open forums at Cutter-Shabazz Hall. The first forum was held on April 18 and the second will take place on Thursday.
"We are asking people to share personal qualities and potential ideas for presentation topics that candidates can work on when they come to campus," Satterlund said. "The forums give us a lot of thoughts and prospective ideas we haven't thought about as a committee. This allows us to further inform our reading of the applications."
While OPAL had originally expected to fill the post of a new black student advisor by January, Ameer said that the process was put on hold until the OPAL director position was filled.
"As soon as Alysson arrived, we began the search process," Ameer said. "I thought it was important for the new OPAL director to be an integral part of the hiring process."
Satterlund was announced as the new director of OPAL in February. The official OPAL director position was removed in August 2009 when former director Sylvia Spears became acting dean of the College.
Following this transition, Samantha Ivery, the College's advisor to black students, assumed the duties of OPAL director in addition to her previous responsibilities. When Ivery left the College in June 2011, Pam Misener assumed the role of interim director of OPAL.
Black student advising is currently being run by a team consisting of Mobley, Mars and Momo Wolapaye.
AStudents at the forum said they hope for a variety of characteristics in a new advisor to black students, according to Satterlund. Some of the most popular recommendations include hiring an advisor who exhibits enthusiasm and excellent communication skills, she said.
Students are also seeking an advisor who is resourceful about issues inside and outside Dartmouth, is youthful and has a love of mentorship, according to Satterlund.
"These characteristics are not wildly surprising, but it's affirming to know that we are on the same page with students and have the same expectations for this individual," she said.
PAN-ASIAN ADVISOR SEARCH
The process to find a replacement for Yasumura, former advisor to Asian and Asian-American students, will be organized and conducted in a fashion similar to that for the advisor to black students, Satterlund said.
The official title for the new advisor is still being determined, but it will focus on incorporating the idea of "Pan-Asian" identity as opposed to "just Asian-Americans," she said. While the position will remain the same, the new title aims to "be more encapsulating and representative of the diverse Asian community," Satterlund said.
The Pan-Asian advisor search committee is currently reviewing the position's job description, which will be sent to human resources on Friday, she said. Once the description is posted online, the formal recruitment process will officially begin.
Satterlund said that the search process will include a variety of components, such as public forums for individuals to outline the qualities they would like in the new advisor and meetings with the Pan-Asian Council and PAC interns. Satterlund said OPAL hopes the new advisor will take office by Aug. 1.
The Pan-Asian advisor search committee includes Latino advisor Rodrigo Ramirez, Assistant Director for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Beatriz Cantada, Ben Nguyen '14, Lorelei Yang '15, Taha Adib '14 and PAC intern Shimul Begum '12, as well as two pending appointments to the committee, Ariel Xue '08 and Assistant Director of Career Services Jesse Wingate, she said.
Abib and Yang are members of The Dartmouth Staff.
Begum said she hopes that the new advisor will share many of the same strengths of passion and accessibility for which Yasumura was known.
"It's important for the new advisor to have good people skills," Begum said. "Nora was this woman who held organizations together but was always available to her students in all times of the day. It's terribly sad that we lost Nora because what she did with her position was amazing, but the only way to keep things going is to find someone just as innovative as Nora."
Satterlund is currently serving as the advisor to Asian and Asian-American students, facing an overwhelming workload without a full-time advisor, according to Begum. "The PAC interns are running many of the projects we were doing while Nora was still here without her," Begum said. "We are also trying to offer office hours for advising purposes, but it's been a weird dynamic because we're peers. It's a scary time because many of the kids who would see Nora feel like they don't have anyone right now."
OPAL student intern Gina Greenwalt '14 said she believes that the new Pan-Asian advisor should be able to work with not only Asian and Asian-American students but also reach all facets of campus.
"I feel like Nora did a good thing by recognizing that there are real problems prevalent in the Asian-American community in a bigger way than just Dartmouth," Greenwalt said. "The hires should want to empower and lead students and working with Nora has taught me that the most important work advisors do is often not a part of their job descriptions."
Greenwalt is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
NEW LEADERSHIP COORDINATOR
In addition to the two search processes, OPAL has created a new leadership and community coordinator position for the office, Satterlund said.
The coordinator will oversee OPAL leadership programs including the Diversity Peer Program and Leadership Development Program and will facilitate new opportunities across campus to promote OPAL's mission of "diverse leadership," according to Satterlund.
"So much leadership happens in isolation that we would love to have a person to help build our existing programs and partnerships and assess them," Satterlund said. "We want to promote campus dialogues about leadership and grow our current work in the area."
The new position was created after students and OPAL staff expressed the need for a staff member who could focus solely on the office's leadership component, according to Satterlund.
"The position was in the talks before I arrived, and I know that students came forward and [Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson] supported the idea," she said.
Satterlund said that Yasumura's departure further highlighted the need for a staff member who could commit to working on leadership development full-time.
At the College, Yasumura was the coordinator of DPP, advisor to the Inter-Community Council and advisor to over 25 student groups serving the Pan-Asian community.
ICC co-chair Chris O'Connell '13 said he is encouraged and excited by the introduction of the new position.
"Many students were unsure and hesitant if DPP would continue after Yasumura's departure," O'Connell said. "I know many students sent blitzes to Dean Johnson expressing their concern and support for the program, and the response has been really strong. I think the leadership position has spawned from these kinds of discussions and how important these programs are worth supporting."
O'Connell participated in DPP his freshman summer, he said.
O'Connell is a former member of The Dartmouth Business Staff.
Greenwalt said that many students lobbied for the creation of a leadership coordinator after Yasumura's departure.
"The new position is a wonderful opportunity to expand the great work that OPAL is doing and to make OPAL a prevalent force and safe place on campus for student leadership," she said. "Every administrator says they want these things, but OPAL is actually making this happen."
Satterlund said she has extended a temporary one-year appointment to an individual who has extensive national experience in leadership development and that he will begin the post on Sept. 1. OPAL will make a public announcement about this selection after further information is finalized, she said.
"The person we've selected believes in OPAL's work enough to come here for temporary employment," she said. "I know he will be a great addition to the OPAL community, and he'll provide some relief to many of the other advisors in the office."
STAFF RETENTION CONCERNS
In recent years, concerns have been raised regarding minority retention in staff at OPAL and the College in general.
In addition to the departures of Smith and Yasumura, Ivery, Spears and former Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Colleen Larimore both resigned last winter.
"It's important to consider why we've had a number of staffing shortages in recent memory and try to address what about working at Dartmouth has led to a noticeable amount of advisors to leave the College," O'Connell said. "I don't know what it is specifically or if it's a tangible issue, and even though I'm excited about the College's commitment to fully staffing OPAL, it's worth exploring and thinking critically about why we've had so many shortages."
Begum said this trend in minority staff departures is both troubling and "scary."
"Maybe this environment at Dartmouth isn't conducive to minority staff," she said. "Of course we should look for people who are dedicated and will try their best, but Dartmouth needs to meet them half way."
Satterlund said she is dedicated to creating a healthy environment where all staff members feel welcome and appreciated for their work, emphasizing balance, personal health and social support. "I know that the retention issues around professionals of color at Dartmouth have been painful for the community, and I recognize I don't have all the answers, but I do have a responsibility to build a team and develop them," she said.
Ameer said that while she understands the concern regarding retention and administrative diversity, candidates' qualifications should remain the priority in the search process.
"I think this is what goes on in life," Ameer said. "Each staff member at OPAL has had extraordinary experiences and made positive impacts here. I want to make sure that these jobs are manageable with adequate support and that the focus remains on making students academically successful."
