<, Bucky Zeitz, former Associate Dean of Students, left his job at Carleton for unspecified reasons. Hudlin Wagner, Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students, initiated a search for a new Associate Dean of Students. With the help of Spelman & Johnson Group (SJG), a search firm specializing in administrative positions within higher education, the new dean is expected to join the Carleton Community in early 2009. A search committee comprised of students, faculty and staff has also been formed in order to facilitate the process.
Valeria Szymkowicz, the lead consultant assigned to Carleton, met with the search committee and the Carleton community in two separate meetings on Wednesday night. She reviewed the marketing strategy and the timeline for the search.
“My hope is that we will build a really talented, deep and diverse pool [of applicants] and that ultimately, there will be choices to be made,” she said.
October 10, 2008 has been set as the recommended date of closure when no more applications will be reviewed. However, if a strong candidate applies after the 10th, Szymkowicz said that he or she might still be considered. Following the 10th, Szymkowicz will determine qualified applicants by reviewing resumes and conducting introductory phone interviews. By late October, Szymkowicz will forward the resumes of qualified candidates to the search committee, who will then examine the applications and conduct a second round of interviews. The search committee will further narrow down the candidates and present a select group to the campus for a third round of interviews around the end of November. These candidates will have the opportunity to engage with students, faculty, staff and administrators.
The search committee will then seek the campus’ feedback about the candidates and recommend a chosen group of candidates to Wagner, who will make the final hiring decision.
The search committee’s job, says Szymkowicz, is not to “rank order candidates”, but to present Wagner with at least two qualified and interesting candidates. To consider the search successful, Szymkowicz says that SJG “really wants Dean Wagner to have choices”.
Qualified applicants will possess a master’s degree in student affairs/ higher education administration, or related fields. She or he will also have prior experience in student life/ higher education administration. As of today Szymkowicz has received roughly 52 applications, about 10 of which look “interesting” she said. This is SJG’s first search with Carleton, however SJG has specialized in placing administrative positions in higher education since 1991.