President Hill appoints third dean to Senior Staff

Elysia Grover Guest Writer

Vassar College President Catharine Bond Hill announced on July 24 that Rachel Kitzinger, the Matthew Vassar Jr. Professor of Greek and Latin Languages and Literature, was to become the first Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs. A trained classicist, Kitzinger has been a member of the Vassar faculty for 25 years. She has held a number of governance positions both here and at other liberal arts colleges. Kitzinger assumed the new position, created by Hill last spring, on Aug. 15.

The position relieves many of the responsibilities that formerly rested with the Dean of the Faculty and the Vice President for Finance and Administration. Hill saw the need for this role after examining Vassar’s former admistrative structure.

“After being here for about six months, it seemed to me that several senior officer positions had very broad portfolios that didn’t entirely make sense,” she explained. “By creating this position and reassigning responsibilities, I actually think we’ve rationalized these jobs.”

The Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs will be responsible most academic areas outside the academic departments themselves, which remain under the auspices of the Dean of the Faculty.

As Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs, Kitzinger will also be directly involved with long-term planning for the College, and will also oversee the shorter-term plans of rhe offices and departments that report to her. These offices will include the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, the Library, the Department of Athletics and Physical Education, the Grants Office, the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Athletics, the Infant and Toddler Center, and the Wimpfheimer Nursery School.

While many College offices are involved in longer-term planning, Hill believes that having a single person to lead those efforts will make the process more efficient.

“I expect the new administrative structure will help us manage the College more effectively, contributing to our making better decisions about where we’d like Vassar to be in the next five to 10 years, and helping us get there,” she said. “It is really helpful to have a point person who takes the lead on this and coordinates other people’s efforts in this area.”

Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Eismeier was equally optimistic about Kitzinger’s promotion.

“I think the appointment of a senior position, drawn from the faculty, will strengthen our planning process over the long run. Through collaboration, we can ensure that the financial plans reflect program and institutional objectives,” said Eismeier. “The additional time that the new dean can give to the planning process will be very important to us now, as we articulate the results of the current planning process and realize how important it is to review and refresh our objectives over time.”

Although most of the new Dean’s responsibilities formerly fell under the auspices of the Dean of the Faculty’s office, some were also under the jurisdiction of Eismeier’s office.
For example, responsibility for faculty housing has been transferred from to the new dean, along with Vassar’s committees on Investor Responsibility. The Office of Finance and Administration will continue to assist the Kitzinger during the transition, as well as provide various technical support.

Although she declined to comment on specific goals for the upcoming year, Kitzinger was hopeful that she would be able to “stimulate conversations among many different areas of the College that will inform both the work of this year and planning for the longer term.”

She does believe that her experience in academia has prepared her well for this challenging new role. “The position calls for someone who knows the College well, can consider and engage in the points of view of various different administrative entities, the faculty,” she said, “and the students, and has a deep commitment to the mission of a college like Vassar.”

Hill agreed that she was the right person for the job. “Kitzinger has great experience in a wide variety of areas at Vassar. She is a highly respected member of the faculty. I’m delighted that she was willing to take on this job,” said Hill.

Kitzinger hopes to ensure that Vassar “thinks intelligently, responsibly and creatively about its priorities as an institution and plans for those priorities.”