Administrative overhaul at Tufts 'not unusual'

Since former President John DiBiaggio retired in August 2001, the Administration has undergone significant personnel changes, but many say that the changes are coincidental, even though a change in leadership is often accompanied by restructuring.

At least nine senior administrators have or plan to retire, step down, or leave Tufts for another job since the presidency changed hands. These administrative positions include those of the vice president, provost, vice provost, dean of admissions, and the deans of the schools of engineering, medicine, and nutrition.

That these departures have occurred within the same two-year time span is "just serendipity," according to University Professor and former Provost Sol Gittleman. Gittleman spent 21 years in Tufts' second-highest-ranking administrative position, university provost, and stepped down officially last August.

But a new president does not necessarily initiate decisions to leave Tufts, according to former Vice Provost June Aprille. "It was just time to jump ship," Aprille said of her departure in May 2001 after 24 years at Tufts.

Now provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Richmond, Aprille said she had been looking for an opportunity to leave Tufts. Her departure "was a chance to assume power at a new institution at a time of building."

"My move was a personal decision," Aprille said. "It just turns out that when things shuffle, they shuffle."

But new leadership, such as that of 12th President Larry Bacow who arrived at Tufts in August of 2001, can be an incentive for administrators thinking about joining a university. Current Provost Jamshed Bharucha said at the time of his arrival that Bacow was "an important reason for my coming."

"Starting as part of a new team is very exciting," he said.

High administrative turnover is not something particular to Tufts, according to Gittleman. "There's a lot of change out there," he said. "People who stick around in double digits in higher education are unusual nowadays."

Brown University has undergone a similar shuffle since its leadership changed in July 2001 with the arrival of President Ruth Simmons. The school's provost, executive vice president for finance and administration, vice presidents for development and for campus life, director of career services, and deans of the graduate school and of residential life all left their positions.

One in five administrators last two years or less in their position, according to Gittleman, and medical school deans are averaging less than three years on the job. "University administration is not easy work," he said.

Employment of education administrators is projected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2010, according to the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Its Occupational Outlook Handbook predicts that job opportunities will be excellent in the field, as a large proportion of education administrators are expected to retire over the next ten years.

But this large number of retirements comes at price. Advertising for these open positions, screening candidates, and having to train new employees simultaneously can be costly to a university.

The American Association of School Administrators reports that turnover can be expensive in terms of opportunity cost in time and money and is both a "cause and effect of productivity problems."

In the early 1990s, Gittleman recalls running three simultaneous dean searches. "That was just wild," he said, because much of his attention at the time was focused on the task.

Today, multiple administrative searches require University energies. But this type of change indicates nothing more than that Tufts is a place for much growth and opportunity, according to Gittleman. "Right now, most other schools are cutting back," he said. "This school is run better than most. We're still hiring administrators."

But many of these new administrators will not fill exactly the same positions which were vacated. As positions have emptied, Bacow has restructured the Administration. The plan, which called for the elimination of the then-empty vice presidential position and of some deans, was intended to give existing deans more power.

According to Gittleman, some restructuring is not unusual for universities after the arrival of a new president and, in fact, may be good. "You've got to have some change," Gittleman said.