Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: News
Stetson Departure | Qualities for new dean make for specific search pool
Anthony Campisi
Though officials are advertising far and wide for a new dean of admissions, Penn probably knows exactly the type of person it's looking for.
After former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson's controversial resignation in August, the University now has to fill the shoes of one of the most respected figures in the admissions world.
And executive search firms say Penn will likely look to the University's peer institutions for Stetson's replacement, recruiting second- and third-ranking officials in those offices.
Paula Fazli, a principal at Sage Search Partners, said familiarity with the Ivy League's need-blind admissions process would be essential for any candidate.
And while the new dean only handles undergraduates, Stephen Peeps, a partner at search firm Heidrick & Struggles, said Penn's status as a research university require a different skill set than someone who has only worked at a small liberal-arts college.
"If I'm seeking the dean of admissions at Penn, I'm looking for someone who … works with graduate [students] and faculty," Peeps said. "I wouldn't want to pick someone whose admissions had been strictly undergraduate liberal arts."
That means the candidates Penn is targeting might not be the same people who would respond to the advertisements the University has placed in publications like The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"The people who respond to ads are people looking for jobs. The people looking for jobs are generally not the ones you want. They're looking because they don't have a job," Peeps said.
That's where Witt/Kieffer, the firm Penn hired to conduct the search, comes in.
"A search firm has an active search" and will go out and recruit people it thinks will fit the criteria set out by Penn, said George Rent, a founding principal of Rent Consulting.
Fazli agreed, saying that it's the search firm's job to find people who both aren't initially interested in the position and also people who are interested but "don't want to show their cards right off the bat" by submitting a resume for consideration.
After former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson's controversial resignation in August, the University now has to fill the shoes of one of the most respected figures in the admissions world.
And executive search firms say Penn will likely look to the University's peer institutions for Stetson's replacement, recruiting second- and third-ranking officials in those offices.
Paula Fazli, a principal at Sage Search Partners, said familiarity with the Ivy League's need-blind admissions process would be essential for any candidate.
And while the new dean only handles undergraduates, Stephen Peeps, a partner at search firm Heidrick & Struggles, said Penn's status as a research university require a different skill set than someone who has only worked at a small liberal-arts college.
"If I'm seeking the dean of admissions at Penn, I'm looking for someone who … works with graduate [students] and faculty," Peeps said. "I wouldn't want to pick someone whose admissions had been strictly undergraduate liberal arts."
That means the candidates Penn is targeting might not be the same people who would respond to the advertisements the University has placed in publications like The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"The people who respond to ads are people looking for jobs. The people looking for jobs are generally not the ones you want. They're looking because they don't have a job," Peeps said.
That's where Witt/Kieffer, the firm Penn hired to conduct the search, comes in.
"A search firm has an active search" and will go out and recruit people it thinks will fit the criteria set out by Penn, said George Rent, a founding principal of Rent Consulting.
Fazli agreed, saying that it's the search firm's job to find people who both aren't initially interested in the position and also people who are interested but "don't want to show their cards right off the bat" by submitting a resume for consideration.
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