New meaning to phrase, "Serves at the will of the President"

I was saddened to learn of the sudden departure of Oberlin College's Director of Financial Aid, Howard Thomas. This brings to about 20 the number of senior administrators who have been either fired or nudged from office during President Dye's tenure. Were it not so harmful both for these people and for the College, we might just smile and note that it gives new meaning to the phrase, "serves at the will of the president."

Mr. Thomas was an effective and knowledgeable financial aid officer. He was, and is, a man of honor and integrity. For nearly a decade he served Oberlin College well, much of that under the direction of the Vice President of Enrollment Planning who coordinated Financial Aid and Conservatory and College Admissions. Early in her administration President Dye eliminated the VP position and the Office of Financial Aid has reported directly to her since. She has had several years in which to replace him with someone more to her liking, and to do in such a way as to provide both him and the institution with an appropriate transition. Instead, the timing of Thomas' removal unfairly tarnishes his reputation and leaves the Office of Financial Aid in disarray at a crucial time in the admissions cycle. Could it be that the timing was chosen to divert attention from a personnel decision that would otherwise attract scrutiny, particularly following closely as it does on the resignation of Conservatory Dean Karen Wolff and reported budget overruns?

Where does the blame lie? Mr. Thomas undoubtedly carried out the policy of his President. Under Dye's watch the "structural deficit" she and Mr. Evans so proudly "discovered" and eliminated has now reappeared. Wolff's resignation brings to completion the turnover of the President's entire senior staff - not just holdovers from the Starr administration, but a staff that included Dye's hand-picked Dean of Students and Dean of the College. Indeed, Clayton Koppes is the 5th Dean of the College to serve under President Dye (though, admittedly, one of them demonstrated extraordinary insight by resigning before actually occupying the office) and the Student Life division remains in disarray, largely due to uncertainty in its leadership.

There is no evidence that these costly staffing changes have led to a better-run institution. To the contrary, evidence supports the opposite conclusion. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that Oberlin College's endowment earned an annual return of 12 percent - less than two-thirds the average earnings for other College and University endowments (18+ percent). Who will take the responsibility for the poor showing of our endowment? President Dye's sudden decision to fire treasurer Charles Tharp a few years ago cost us about $20 million in investment earning this year alone. This amount is 200 times greater than the $100 thousand that is being cut this next year from the Conservatory scholarship fund. Our present ranking of 24 (which we share with four other schools) in the US News and World Report rankings of national liberal arts colleges is even lower than our 1993 ranking of 21.

Administrative problems at this institution can be traced directly to the President. Her management style of "fire and hire until she finds someone who gets it right" is not an effective way to assemble a talented staff. To the contrary, it would appear that its certain outcome is the assembly of a staff characterized by mediocrity and acquiescence. How costly is it to the institution to continually operate with major vacancies in its administrative staff? It is time for the Board of Trustees to take a serious look at management problems in this administration.

-John H. Scofield, Physics Professor