In October, 2011, John Ford, Emory's Senior Vice President and Dean for Campus Life (SVPDCL), announced his plans to retire, effective August 31, 2012, after 11 years of distinguished service. In November, 2011, President Wagner assembled a Search Advisory Committee, consisting of leaders from cross campus, to lead our efforts to find a successor for Dean Ford, and he invited me to chair this committee.
This website has been created with two primary goals in mind. The first is to allow everyone who is interested in the progress of the search to get a sense of what we are up to. The second is to provide an opportunity for everyone in the Emory community to offer guidance, and to pass along any concerns, suggestions and perhaps nominations. Please take advantage of the "community input" page to let us know your thoughts.
Robin Forman
Dean, Emory College of Arts and Sciences
Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Mathematics
February 28, 2012
The position description is now available - see the link on the left hand side of this page.
February 20, 2012
Over the past month, we have been reaching out to a variety of Emory groups who represent many of the core constituencies of the SVPDCL. We had two meetings with Campus Life leaders - one with the Deans and Directors, and one with the entire Campus Life division. We met with the Campus Life Committee of the Board of Trustees, the Student to Alumni Committee of the Emory Alumni Board, and the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Dean of Campus Life. Adam McCall, President of the SGA and member of the SVPDCL search advisory committee, organized a focus group event at which the views of students - undergraduate and graduate - were solicited. These meetings have provided a broad set of perspectives both on the role of the SVPDCL and the significance of this search to the entire Emory community. Several participants at these meetings have passed along nominations of quite interesting candidates.
We have recently posted the ad for the position, and are completing final edits on a longer position description. We are beginning to receive applications and nominations, and it is becoming clear that our prediction was correct - this is being perceived as an extremely attractive position, and there will be many intriguing candidates.
January 20, 2012
The committee's first meeting was in early December, 2011. At this inaugural gathering, we heard from President Wagner. He charged us with presenting to him at the end of our process a short list of finalists for his consideration. He emphasized the significance of a successful Campus Life program, and the need to find a leader who will understand, and further enhance, Emory's distinctive ethos. In our last meeting of December, we heard from John Ford, who gave us an overview of the job of SVP and Dean for Campus Life, and let us know what he thought the greatest challenges and opportunities for the SVPDCL would be in the coming years.
We retained a consultant for the search, Shelly Storbeck, of Storbeck/Pimental & Associates, and we are thrilled to have her onboard. She has consulted on previous searches at Emory, and has a deep appreciation for our university. In addition, she has worked with several other universities as they searched for their campus life/student affairs leader, so she knows that arena extremely well. Our first meeting with her will be on February 1. (Full disclosure: I have worked previously with Shelly both as search committee member and as candidate – she was the consultant on the search that brought to me to Emory – and I can think of no one I would prefer to have by our side for such an important search.)