Editor's Note: When College President Jim Yong Kim was inaugurated in 2009, he said he would make his administration more cohesive and efficient. The past year of administrative restructuring has seen new officials hired, old officials leave their posts and others switch positions within the administration. Here are the key players in the Parkhurst administration building:
CAROL FOLT, PROVOST
Although Folt was only appointed provost in May, she has served that role temporarily ever since former provost Barry Scherr left his post in October 2009.
Along with Kim, Folt is charged with leading the College's strategic planning process, a two-year initiative that plans to support the faculty, "strengthen and develop [the College's] curriculum" and enhance the aspects of education students consider most important, Folt said in a May interview with The Dartmouth.
"I felt comfortable moving back to that role having people like Carol Folt within the College," Kim told The Dartmouth after her permanent appointment, noting that the position "is really evolving into a more classic provost role."
Folt will also work to begin a reorganization of the "life sciences" at Dartmouth, Kim told The Dartmouth in May.
The effort will involve taking advantage of "Dartmouth's size and scope" in order to "do something unique and exciting" with the life sciences program, Folt said.
"We're undergoing major explosion in life sciences as field of knowledge, so one of the exciting areas that [Kim] and I and I think the faculty seek for Dartmouth is trying to increase the connections between the life sciences and the arts and sciences," Folt said.
Folt's tenure as dean of the faculty, a post she had held since 2004, was marked by an increase in faculty size, as well as the resignation of several prominent professors who cited incompatibility with her administration as the reason for their departure.
Before serving as dean, Folt was a professor in the biology department beginning in 1983 and served as dean of graduate studies between 2001 and 2004.
MICHAEL MASTANDUNO, DEAN OF THE FACULTY
Government professor Mastanduno was appointed dean of the faculty on July 15 after having served as an associate dean of the faculty since 2003.
Mastanduno who will now oversee approximately 40 academic departments and 400 faculty members brings a heavy emphasis on international work that matches Kim's own mission to encourage student and professor action in solving global issues.
In a July interview with The Dartmouth, Mastanduno defined his first priority as "recruiting and retaining the best scholar-teachers."
Mastanduno, who has authored, co-authored or edited seven international relations books and who served as an assistant in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, told The Dartmouth in July that his government work would prepare him well for the position.
"You'd be surprised how many problems in government and [academia] seem the same," Mastanduno said. "For instance, the need to collaborate when it comes to finding a common solution when there are diverse opinions and interests is extremely important in both cases."
Mastanduno previously worked as the director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, which saw the creation of the War and Peace Studies fellowship during his tenure. As dean of the faculty, Mastanduno oversees the humanities, sciences, social sciences, interdisciplinary programs and graduate studies.
SYLVIA SPEARS, ACTING DEAN OF THE COLLEGE
Spears who assumed her position after former Dean of the College Tom Crady abruptly resigned in August 2009 is serving a two-year term as Dean of the College.
Spears is working closely with other deans to revamp the academic advising system at Dartmouth, an initiative that promises to place all deans and advisors in one central location on campus.
Such a streamlined model is typical of Spears's work in the Dean of the College's Office as the former director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, and Spears has experience interacting with students and working with other College officials.
Prior to her arrival at Dartmouth, Spears followed an unusual career path which included stints as a fitness center manager and tribal administrator of the Narragansett Indian Tribe, of which she is a member before serving as an administrator and professor at the University of Rhode Island.
The Dean of the College works with students, staff and faculty to encourage academic, social and cultural growth through various programs and services. The Dean of the College also oversees Campus Life, Student Support Services, and Dean of the College Administration, along with Athletics and Recreation, Health Service, and Safety and Security.
DAVID SPALDING '76, CHIEF OF STAFF
While Kim may be relatively new to Dartmouth, Spalding an alumnus, former vice president of Alumni Relations and, now, Kim's right-hand man is currently serving in this newly created advising position.
Although fairly common among other American universities, the chief of staff position was created in April and initially met some criticism as to whether the position would be superfluous.
The chief of staff position was designed to play significant role in the College's strategic planning process, Kim said.
"[Spalding] will be sitting in just about every meeting I'm in," Kim told The Dartmouth in April. "He will have a really good sense of all of the things that I'm working on."
Given Spalding's professional background in investment and business, he will "be playing a much larger role" in managing these aspects of the College, Kim said.
The planned creation of the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science which encourages interdepartmental research toward more efficient health care practices and offers health care-related classes to undergraduates is an example of one of the College's new initiatives, Spalding told The Dartmouth in May, when plans for the Center were announced.
Spalding also works with Kim on investments, organizes business processes within the President's Office, handles the College president's schedule and manages interactions between the President's Office and other administrative departments.
STEVE KADISH, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND STRATEGIC ADVISOR
Before coming to Dartmouth, Kadish worked with Kim at the Harvard University-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital for four years. Kadish came to Dartmouth as Kim's senior vice president and strategic advisor in June 2009 when Kim assumed the presidency, and his role has evolved to that of executive vice president and chief financial officer of the College.
Kadish described his role as helping "folks with great vision see their visions become a reality" in a November interview with The Dartmouth.
"It's a lot of the back-of-the-house kinds of things," Kadish said. "Thinking about how a strategy translates into money, into people, into space. What are the [information technology] systems, what are the other processes, what are the communications? All of those things that need to happen in order to actually make something a reality."
In the past year, Kadish led the College's budget reduction efforts last year, successfully devising a plan to cut $100 million by fiscal year 2010. He recently announced a $5.6-million surplus for the 2010 fiscal year, a move that allowed the College to break a year-old freeze on employee salaries.
Before working at Brigham and Women's, Kadish served as Massachusetts' undersecretary for health and human services, where he oversaw a roughly $10-million budget
APRIL THOMPSON, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR CAMPUS LIFE
Thompson, who assumed the newly-created deanship at the beginning of May, came up against student opposition when she announced at the start of the Summer term that the Connecticut River swim docks a popular sophomore summer hangout spot would be closed indefinitely after an administrative decision based on a safety review of the river.
Thompson worked with campus leaders to find a replacement for Greek Letter Organizations and Societies director Deb Carney, who left her position in June. Thompson announced Carney's replacement, former Associate Director of Residential Education Kristi Clemens, in early August.
Thompson also oversees the management of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs, the Collis Center for Student Involvement, Student Activities, the Greek system, residential operations, Dartmouth Dining Services and the Office of Outdoor Programs, among other divisions.
Her Dartmouth background and familiarity with the Greek system were part of the reason Thompson was chosen for the position, Spears told The Dartmouth in April.
