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Q&A with Dr. Susan Dunton

Susan Dunton, appointed in August as interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, has had an extensive career in higher education administration. She has served as Dean of Students at the University of Connecticut, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Averett University in Danville, Va., Associate Dean at Harvard Divinity School, Provost at Fisher College, and culminating with a 4-year stint as president of NHTI – Concord's Community College until her retirement in 2018. Post-retirement, she has been working with The Registry, one of the country’s leading placement services for interim academic appointments. Through the registry, she served as interim vice president for academic affairs for nearly 2 years at Boston Architectural College, and now at Elms College. She says having the word interim in a title is not synonymous with being cautious or with staying the course until a permanent replacement is found. In reality,  it’s the opposite, she says. It’s the opportunity to make honest assessments and bold recommendations.

In her office in Berchmans Hall, a large conference table is filled with stacks of paperwork and documents. Each stack represents a different issue within Academic Affairs that she is studying. She will be at Elms through this academic year, and she says that means there is precious little time available to get up to speed on the issues facing Academic Affairs specifically, or the campus in general.

Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity. 

Q: You've had a really impressive career. You've done a little bit of everything.

Susan Dunton:  Yeah. In higher education, I sure have.

In the first third of my career and was in the Student Life side of things starting as a residence hall director, and then moved up to the Assistant Dean of Students at the University of Connecticut and then was their interim dean of students for a couple of years.

And then I moved to St. Louis, for personal reasons and got a teaching appointment for a couple of years. Teaching was one of the most challenging things I ever did. I taught management, human resources, and managerial ethics. It was an accelerated program for working adults.  I felt like for the two years that I did that, I was constantly struggling every week to be at least a week or two ahead of the students. And then I thought I really wanted to be back in an administrative role. 

When I retired in 2018 – or so I thought – that's when, by accident, a position down at the Boston Architectural College fell into my lap through The Registry.

Once you let The Registry know you are interested, they put you through a pretty thorough interview and vetting process. But once you're on their list, you're on their list.

It was in July, and we were traveling, and I got the inquiry about Elms College.  I said ‘We're out of the country. I won't be home until after the due date for this’ and they wrote back and said ‘We'll wait for you – and give you a day and a half to get over jetlag.’ And here I am.

I have a handful of challenges that the President specifically wants me to address, which is doable, and there are all sorts of other little projects as you can see on this table of things that notes from meeting with people.

Q: What do you think of it so far? I mean, you mentioned some challenges. I don't know if you can say what they are.

SD: No, I can. What was on the President's mind when he talked originally with the registry, was there are three main things: work with the faculty to get the liberal arts core curriculum finalized, work with Tom Ceresulo on launching the D'Amour Center for Faculty Teaching Excellence, and assist with the search for a permanent vice president of academic affairs.

What do I think of it so far? It's been a really comfortable and natural fit. I'm enjoying getting to know my VP colleagues and Lukman (Arsalan, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing) across the hall. He's new so we talk a lot about enrollment and academics and how our respective areas can work together.

I'm mindful of our budget constraints. I'm glad we've been able to hire some new faculty, and I'm looking forward to getting to know each and every faculty member really well and staff around campus. It's fun getting to know them and seeing how I can be of assistance. 

With a Registry assignment, it’s so different than if it's a permanent position where you don't want to get off on the wrong foot with anyone. I've told many people that it's an opportunity to assess situations and to be able to make bold recommendations.

I want people to enjoy working with me in this role, but we'll be working on some things that people may not particularly agree with. But that's the beauty of being an interim placement.  You can assess things, not turn things upside down but massage some things, be bold, and maybe fix some things that should and could be fixed before a permanent person is hired.

Q: You’re an interim. Is there a concern people will be like ‘Oh, she's only gonna be here for a little while. We just ride it out’?

SD: Yes, there can be.

Q: How do you counter that?

SD: I counter it by making it clear to people that I'm very immersed in what needs to be done by a vice president for academic affairs and I'm very immersed in supporting the work of the faculty and other academic staff.

(She tells a story of how at a previous interim appointment, the college president directed her to implement a system that was unpopular with the faculty. One of the deans, with whom she had a good relationship, told her bluntly ‘We’re going to wait you out until you’re gone.’)

So there may be a bit of that going on, but I don't think it'll really be an issue here. Yeah, but good question. That is a very good question.

Q: How does Elms compare with some of the other places you’ve worked?

SD: Elms has a very distinctive culture, which I think is under the umbrella of the mission and charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph. It has that culture of kindness, the dear neighbor aspect. The students. I've never had students hold the door open for me anywhere else. They're very, very polite and it's a good place. I think it's a place where we're very good at talking the talk and I'm learning whether or not or how well we are walking the walk. 

There are aspects of this particular position of vice president for academic affairs that I know inside and out, and they're common to anywhere you would go. And I've worked at a number of small, private, religious-affiliated institutions, so that is an important culture to understand and celebrate. There are certain nuances to each position that I've gone into at this level. And you figure out the nuances and you embrace them. 

You can be part of the academic staff and faculty that you're working with and let them know that. You can't act like this is just a temporary job. You cannot coast. There's a lot to get done. One thing I can do is ask delicate questions that normally a permanent person may wait for a period of time to ask. I've had really good candid conversations with people and have tried to let people know that if they need help in certain areas to let me know so I can be of assistance.

Q: You have the president’s ear? If there’s something you feel the campus needs to do, you can go to Dr. Dumay and advocate for it?

SD: Yeah. I have his support, and for anything really bold I would be talking with him. And we have one-on-one meetings every other week. We use the whole hour and a half. He's asked for my observation of things and he's been very candid with me about his expectations. We have a good relationship.