Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said Wednesday that he will run Residence Life and Housing Services for at least the Spring semester, temporarily postponing a search for its new head.
Former RLHS dean Eddie Hull left Duke in July after managing the department for seven years. At the time, Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, said Duke would begin a national search in the Spring to replace Hull.
“I don’t think we are ready to bring in a director,” Moneta said. “There are too many things in the air we need to manage.”
He added that he would like to develop a better sense of what leadership RLHS needs before working to recruit a new head.
Management itself is one area Moneta will have to examine quickly as the head of RLHS. All three facilities managers accepted early retirement incentives last month, and Moneta confirmed that Gary Thompson, director of facilities, planning and operations, has resigned, effective early February.
Thompson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
John Duncan, Central Campus residential facilities manager, has worked in RLHS management since 1986 and his wife, Jeanne Duncan, East Campus residential facilities manager, came to Duke the next year. John and Jeanne Duncan will leave the University Jan. 29.
Although RLHS will lose four employees, Duncan said he does not expect the departures to affect students, particularly this semester.
“Most of us could walk away for a few months, and as long as someone answers the questions... and can give [the staff] direction, they’re the nuts and bolts of this anyway, so short-term they’ll be great—they’ll step up and be fine,” Duncan said. “Future planning and future direction is the key to how things go.”
RLHS as a whole has been working to reorganize since the summer, several RLHS officials said. If Duncan had not accepted the early retirement incentive in December, he said he would have had to reapply for a new job with RLHS.
Moneta said many options for restructuring facilities management are currently under consideration, but he hopes to promote from within the University. In the meantime he will be looking for places to streamline RLHS.
“It’s an area in which we must be efficient, given our appropriate obligation to manage our resources responsibly,” he said, noting that he does not foresee a need for layoffs.
While Moneta works to reorganize RLHS, its deans will likely have to take on some responsibilities of the vacated positions.
Associate Dean for Residential Life Joe Gonzalez said more responsibility is part of the University’s downsizing challenge.
“The reality is there are people throughout the institution being asked to do a little more, and that’s no different for us than any other department,” Gonzalez said. “I’m confident that with the people we have in the department we will be able to take that on and the student services won’t suffer.”
Gonzalez said RLHS employees are excited to have Moneta, who was housing director at the University of Pennsylvania for 20 years, leading their operations.
“It’s my roots,” Moneta said.
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