Syracuse University’s Health Services is in the process of searching for a new director, said Rebecca Dayton, associate vice president of student affairs for health and wellness.

The search began in early September after former director, James Jacobs, took a job as the director of Health Services at The Ohio State University. Jacobs declined to comment for this article.

Dayton believes that Jacobs took the job at Ohio State because it is a bigger school, she said, and at Ohio State, Jacobs would have more responsibilities.

‘My guess is it was a very good career move for him,’ Dayton said.

Search committee members are currently reviewing applications and deciding who to phone interview. The committee hopes to bring candidates to campus in early December, Dayton said.

Dayton declined to provide information on specific candidates and if any current SU employees have applied.

‘Anyone anywhere can apply,’ Dayton said. ‘Certainly internal candidates could apply if they would like to. We are very interested in this being a very fair, very broad-reaching search.’

The committee is specifically looking for physicians with prior experience in a leadership position at a university’s health services, Dayton said.

‘We’re looking for someone with a strong public health orientation,’ Dayton said, ‘a very team player who’s got a broad vision for health and health promotion and education on a college campus.’

Once the committee has chosen the finalists, they will bring them to campus to be interviewed, Dayton said. At that point, there will be an open forum where the candidates can present their qualifications and plans to students, faculty and staff, to be evaluated.

In September, SU placed advertisements in national forums, like the Chronicle of Higher Education and the American College Health Association. Dayton said SU wanted to make the search national, as opposed to focusing only on existing employees, to encompass a large applicant pool.

The search committee is being co-chaired by Colleen Bench, director of the Parents Office, and Cory Wallack, director of the Counseling Center, and includes members from across the university community that would have an interest in how Health Services runs, like representatives from the Office of Academic Affairs and Recreation Services, Dayton said. Bench and Wallack declined to comment for this article.

rhkheel@syr.edu

Published on November 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm