The search to replace John King, the former Senior Director of Public and Environmental Safety is underway, with a replacement expected by the end of 2010.
King left Tufts in mid-August to become the director of public safety and chief of police at Boston College. Vice President for Operations Dick Reynolds is serving as the interim director until a replacement is named.
The search for King's successor started last month, and the candidate interview process has just begun, according to Vice President of Human Resources Kathe Cronin.
Reynolds, to whom the new director will report, is heading up the search. He said the search team includes representatives from different departments at Tufts.
"I will certainly be working with Human Resources; we'll certainly be working with [Executive Vice President] Patricia Campbell," Reynolds said. "We will also have some of our clients [involved, as well as] the deans of the various schools."
An external recruitment firm has been hired to aid in selecting candidates, according to Cronin.
"Human Resources partnered with the VP for Operations to refine the job description and select the search firm," Cronin said in an e-mail. "HR is collaborating with the search firm in reviewing resumes and selecting candidates to be interviewed."
Human Resources' role is to coordinate the interview process, Cronin said.
Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell said that while Tufts has recently begun to emphasize keeping budget restraints in mind while filling open positions, the importance of this role supersedes such considerations.
"We're clearly not going to leave something as critical as this unfilled — that wouldn't be wise," Campbell said. "So we have not approached this any differently because of the economy than we would have at any other time."
Campbell stressed the importance of the mutual agreeability of a candidate prior to his or her appointment to the position.
"We want that person to get a good sense of Tufts," she said. "We want someone to know us well so they're making a good choice, as well as for us to get to know them well so that we're sure it's a really good match."
In the initial phases of the search process, the job description had to be altered to better reflect the demands of the position, according to Campbell.
"There were a handful of things that John had taken on over the years that weren't directly part of public safety," Campbell said.
"[These included] risk management issues … that are a little more of financial and insurance issues, so that role is now part of finance and not in public safety," Campbell said. "There were a handful of small things like that that we changed, but basically it's the same role."
Reynolds said specific work experience in campus safety is a crucial consideration.
"We're really looking for someone who has experience in campus public safety, because running a university public safety office is very different than municipal police forces," Reynolds said. "This job will have responsibility for environment health and safety and emergency management, as well as the police force," he added.
Campbell said a new director should bring experience and strong teamwork skills to the position.
"We want someone who can handle emergencies well, so they have to be really someone who has a calm approach and good judgment yet is capable of making quick decisions when they need to be," she said.
Those involved in the search emphasized the need to conduct a speedy yet thorough process.
"It's a really important position and we're hoping as quickly as possible to fill it with someone we think is capable of doing a really terrific job," Campbell said.
"If we don't find the right person, we won't settle," she added. "We'll really try to make an excellent appointment, and I think that the market is such that we will attract a number of good candidates."
