Northwestern will hire an outside firm to speed up the search for a new vice president for university development, a position that could remain vacant when Ronald Vanden Dorpel leaves for Brown University in August.
NU will start interviewing firms next week and likely will decide soon on a partner to help the search, said Marilyn McCoy, vice president for administration and planning. Vanden Dorpel announced in late April that he will leave NU after 15 years to take a similar position Brown University.
A search firm will be able to more easily identify outside candidates, including those who haven’t worked for universities, McCoy said. For example, a person who ran a fund-raising campaign for a hospital might have the “experience and understanding” required to lead university fund raising, she said.
“They often can approach candidates in a way that may be more sensitive than for a committee to do,” McCoy said. “Candidates are assured of greater confidentiality.”
But recent history shows that hiring an outside firm does not equate to hiring an outside candidate. NU hired a Massachusetts-based firm to help bring in candidates for the position of vice president for student affairs in February 2001 after Peggy Barr announced her retirement. But University President Henry Bienen and Provost Lawrence Dumas eventually chose William Banis, a longtime NU administrator who held the position on an interim basis at the time, to permanently take the job.
Bienen said his summer schedule might not allow him to meet all the candidates before Vanden Dorpel leaves, a crucial factor in selecting a replacement.
“This is someone who really works closely with me,” Bienen said.
An interim vice president would be hired until a permanent replacement could be found. Bienen said a large amount of delegation in NU’s development office would help the office flow until a permanent replacement is found.
“What you wouldn’t want is a long period without leadership,” Bienen said. “I’d be fearful of defections of other people, which is a problem at the end of campaign anyway.”
Whoever does replace Vanden Dorpel will have to switch gears from the massive $1.4 billion Campaign Northwestern to smaller campaigns targeted at raising money for specific aspects of the university. Bienen said he has some ideas on what those campaigns should be but declined to comment until he discusses them with the Board of Trustees’ development committee.
