Oregon daily emerald., April 09, 1976, Page 9, Image 9

Dartmouth job ‘irresistible’
Dean West strikes gold
with new post in East
"It's a plum,” declares Catherine Jones,
assistant dean of the business college.
"Genuinely irresistible," says University
Pres. William Boyd.
"A comparison of it would require orders
of magnitude," boasts business school
Dean Richard West.
No doubt about it. West's upcoming new
job as dean of the Amos Tuck School of
Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover,
N H., is a real gem.
Dartmouth College is an old, private in
stitution which ranks among the top ten col
leges in the nation. Its business school fo
cuses exclusively on a master's program
instead of juggling three programs like
Oregon does (master's, doctoral and un
school. But rising enrollment figures force us to do the
opposite — increase the quantity and continue at the
same level of quality."
West says the college's student enrollment is about
1,100 and its faculty figure about 50. Amos Tuck, in con
trast, has 225 students and 25 teachers. “In other words,"
he remarks, “Oregon has five times the students but only
two times the faculty."
And, according to West, the college's enrollment in
creased by 30 per cent this year while the faculty size
remained constant. This has resulted in a substantial
increase in the faculty’s work load.
“We find ourselves running faster just to keep up," he
says. "Quality is giving way simply to meet student pres
sure.”
Seeing no cooperation between increasing student in
terest in business courses and the University budget,
uoi ifi auuai<j/■
It also features a
wealth of flexible fi
nances which will ena
ble West to finally
launch many of his
ideas into full sail
Many who have
worked with West dur
ing his past four years
at the University agree
he is a man of ideas.
Ironicallv. this trait has
Story by Martha Bliss
Photos by Geoff Parks
west strongly advo
cates allocating Uni
versity funds in the di
rections dictated by
student demand. Al
though he acknow
ledges Boyd's refusal
to “bend the University
model to meet student
demand,” on the basis
that values of the in
stitution must also
have a role in allocation
marred his Oregon career with an endless
barrage of frustrations, most of which stem
from financial inadequacies
West's main frustration centers around
the age old question: quantity or quality?
According to him, quality is the overnding
feature, but financial squeezes at the Uni
versity have forced him to work rather solely
in quantity-oriented situations.
"Our idea," he explains, “is to continue
working on the same scale (of quantity) and
concentrate on increasing the quality of the
Oregon Daily Emerald
decisions, West says the University must soon ‘‘come to
grips” with expanding programs like the business college
if it is to survive.
Because of inadequate funds from the University, West
says, “What we know we should do curriculum-wise is not
capable of being done. Our main question in considering
any new proposal is always, Can we afford it?’ At Dart
mouth, on the other hand, thequestion is merely, What is
best?"'
West, whose resignation takes affect June 1, admits
business colleges are expensive.
“The world has made us expensive,” he says. “I
haven’t set out to make us so. I haven't set out freely give
faculty salary increases. Faculty salaries in this field just
are high."
He explains that the amount of resources needed for 15
business faculty salaries can supply 18 to 20 salaries in
other departments.
Ma oloa eot/o Hia racAi ir/NAr*
and the Experimental Center for Advancement of Inven
tion and Innovation are examples of such auxiliary ser
vices and both were established during West’s reign.
Although off-campus support waned early in West’s
University stay, he reports that it has “improved" during
the past year. "The alumni have accepted our aspira
tions," he says, "both as individuals and as corporations."
West forsees the next decade as a "fascinating" period
for the University’s business college. Although he consid
ers both the college and the entire University to be in a
"lamentable state of affairs," he holds no grudge for the
frustrations he has had to face as dean. Rather, West
views these frustrations as "interesting challenges” and
says they had no significant influence on his choice to
leave.
Unfortunately for the University, however, West sees
even more challenges at Dartmouth.
“I’m not running away from something, but to some
thing," he says. He claims he was not looking for another
job position when the offer arrived, and could have easily
stayed at the University and maintained an adequate
degree of job satisfaction.
Unlike a job offer from the University of California at *
Berkeley last year which he considered strongly and
agonizingly, Dartmouth's offer held no doubts for West.
Boyd reports West "knew he
that are “freed up" in one de
partment if a student moves
from it to the business college
actually amount in a negative
sum.
“A student in a business
course requires more re
sources than, say, a student
in a dance class,” he exp
lains.
'Can we afford it?
vs.
'What is best?
had to go and ruled out the
possibility of staying." While
the position offered by Ber
keley (dean of its business
school) would have been
fairly similar to West’s current
job at the University,
Dartmouth's holds no com
parison.
Realizing the sparkle of
Dartmouth's offer, none of
Obviously, shifts in student demand and consequent
resource reallocations are "sticky,” as Gerald Udell, di
rector of the Experimental Center for Advancement of
Invention and Innovation, says. He captures the entire
problem by simply saying, "Stretching resources causes
quality to go down."
Another facet of finance which has frustrated West
during his University stay has been the lack of support by
off-campus organizations. He estimates three to five per
cent of the college’s budget nov stems from off-campus
corporations, alumni and continuing education programs.
George Kaufman, director of the Capital Market Re
search Center, says this percentage is six times higher
than what it was when West first came to the University,
but the dean is still not satisfied. West says the percen
tage of off-campus support has a potential of reaching 15
per cent.
"This off-campus money is a critical point," West says.
It does not offset state support of the college, but rather
contributes to the margin of excellence by funding aux
iliary services. The Center for Capital Market Research
West s colleagues have applied any of the pressure to
stay that they did when he was considering the Berkeley
offer.
"West is a good man and a good academician," Udell
comments. “I don't blame him one bit for accepting the
offer."
Such descriptions as "dynamic leader," “able ad
ministrator,” and "resourceful innovator,” pour forth
about West from his colleagues, who only hope the new
dean will be just as good. They say they are confident in
this hope because West has boosted the college into
national recognition during his stay and thus the college
can attract high-quality candidates.
"His leaving won’t bring the house down,” Udell says,
“however, it will probably impose a negative impact in the
short run because the new dean will have to take time out
to establish himself."
Harold Strom, associate dean of the college, agrees by
saying, “West’s leaving will have an affect in general
terms to all parts of the college," but he is also confident it
will continue functioning adequately.
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