Since former President Jim Yong Kim's departure in 2012, Dartmouth has seen significant administrative turnover, with several senior level staff members leaving the College in recent months. Such turnover is common among presidential transitions and is unlikely to affect the mission and day-to-day operations of the College, administrators and faculty members said.
Administrative departures since last June include former provost and Interim President Carol Folt, senior advisor to the president David Spalding, assistant vice president of financial planning Kevin Weinman, chief financial officer and executive vice president Steven Kadish, vice president of campus planning and facilities Linda Snyder and vice president for development Tom Herbert.
"When the presidency turns over, the senior staff turns over. It's not unexpected," media relations director Justin Anderson said in an email. "A president in this case President Hanlon selects his own team, a team with the best chance to make him and the College successful."
Other faculty members and administrators said new presidents have an implicit right to select their senior administrative team.
"The expectation is that the new head person is someone who will want his or her own staff," chemistry professor John Winn said, adding that these changes aren't particularly unusual in higher education.
Kim, for example, made several changes to Dartmouth's administrative structure after the start of his presidency in 2009.
Thayer School of Engineering dean Joseph Helble said administrators also often leave for individual reasons, like to pursue other career opportunities.
Folt left Dartmouth to become the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's first female chancellor, while Spalding began his tenure as dean of Iowa State University's College of Business in August.
Tuck Business School dean Paul Danos noted that frequency of turnover over the course of the last few years might seem high, but other areas of the administration have remained stable.
"The five major deans have stayed the same," he said. "The deans are very stable. I would say that the kind of change you would see is not that far off from the norm."
The process to find, hire and replace an administrator usually takes the several months to fully complete and a national search can cost upward of $100,000, Danos said.
Several senior level position openings require the formation of a search committees consisting of faculty and staff.The committees for the provost and senior vice president of marketing and communications have been in progress for several months, Anderson said.
While the committees screen and interview applicants, the vacant positions are often filled with an interim officer.
Helble said this helps prevent disruption in College operations.
"The functions don't shift," he said. "There's a pretty strong support system already in place."
Appointed administrators often interact with the staff and leadership team before arriving at the College, Anderson said.
Human resources facilitates an official orientation when new hires arrive and managers work with new staff individually to help assimilate them into Dartmouth's work culture.
Staff turnover, however, does not always proceed smoothly. A study published by the Macrothink Institute's International Journal of Human Resource Studies in January noted that staff turnover can increase work for the remaining staff and decrease productivity.
Higher education expert Stephen Nelson told The Brown Daily Herald on Monday that too many new senior administrators can lead to a case of "the blind leading the blind."
Faculty members interviewed said the transition has not harmed the workings of the College.
Professor Lee Witters, comparing Dartmouth to a battleship, said it takes a long time for the College to turn or change.
Winn said that despite turnover, the mission of the Dartmouth remains unchanged and institutional change at the College tends to be gradual.
"The way I've seen Dartmouth change has been incremental and uniform and all for the better," he said.
"I've seen that irrespective of who is president."
Yale University and Princeton University are also welcoming new presidents this year.
Weinman was formerly a member of The Dartmouth's Board of Proprietors.
