Director of health promotion and student wellness Aurora Matzkin '97 has resigned, effective Aug. 31.
She will continue to teach at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine, College spokesperson Justin Anderson wrote in an email.
Matzkin, who came to Dartmouth as a special assistant to the president in June 2011, took over for former director Bryant Ford in April 2013. She has also worked as an instructor in community and family medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine since August 2012,according to her LinkedIn profile.
Matzkinworked with Jennifer Messina '93 to implement the Dartmouth Bystander Initiative, a program that aims to lower rates of sexual assault by training students to intervene in potentially dangerous situations. Through her work with the DartmouthCollege Health Improvement Program,Matzkinworked to instate and expand the BASICS program and pushed to have BASICS providers trained in motivational interviewing.
The office of health promotion and student wellness houses the sexual assault awareness program and peer advisor groups. Associate dean of the College Liz Agosto is currently working with the health promotions staff to continue to advance SAAP, DBI and "other key health and wellness priorities," Anderson wrote.
The position of SAAP coordinator is currently vacant, according to the office's website. One former coordinator, Amanda Childress, is now the assistant director of health promotion and student wellness. The other, Rebekah Carrow, has left the College.The College hiredBenjamin Bradley as survivor advocate earlier this summer.
Matzkin is the most recent in a string of student services administrators to leave or change positions. Interim Dean of the College Inge-Lise Ameer stepped in for Charlotte Johnson earlier this term. Office of Pluralism and Leadership director Alysson Satterlund and assistant dean and advisor to black students T.M. Mosley resigned this summer.
Women's and gender studies professor GiavannaMunafo, the former director of the Center for Gender and Student Engagement, noted the "huge amount of turnover.”
"We're down people," she said, noting that althoughstudents still had access to a wealth of supportresources, administratorswerefacing additional stress as they executed their daily business.
Still,Munafo hedged against reacting too dramatically to faculty andstaff departures, arguing that the College should develop a solidvisionfor eachpositionand not simply engage in"backfilling so that the structure doesn't collapse."
"It is important to look at, 'Oh, we're losing people.' Are we bleeding to death, or are we just bleeding in a way that's normal for our innovation?" she said. "The caution isto then not be reactionary. We want to put good people in those positions."
Munafo said Matzkin's departure marked a "loss" for Dartmouth, citing Matzkin's leadership and organization while coordinating ateam in transition, even as she noted that she did not work particularly closely with Matzkin.
John Damianos'16 has known and collaborated with Matzkinsince his junior year in high school, when he worked for The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice on a project on high-risk drinking. Matzkinserved as TDI's liaison to the President's office.
He also said he has worked closely with Matzkin'soffice and has engaged in numerous independent projects, overseen by Matzkin.
One of her biggest contributions to the College was her focus on data-based policy change, Damianossaid.
"Aurora really set the precedent on this campus of the extreme importance of data collection and evidence based change," he said.
As a member of the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault, Damianossaid that Matzkinwas a supportive advocate who helped students on the committee navigate complex administrative issues.
Matzkin and Childress could not be reached Friday afternoon.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.