Dartmouth provost to resign after only two years in office

Dartmouth College joined the list of Ivy League institutions looking to fill high-level administrative positions after Provost Susan Prager's resignation on Monday. Prager will remain in her position through the end of June. Dartmouth administrators will soon form a search committee to find Prager's replacement, but formal plans have not yet been made. Dartmouth spokeswoman Laurel Stavis said that although Prager and Dartmouth President James Wright had been conversing on and off for the past few months, the announcement came as a surprise. "Her move wasn't expected and we regret losing her," Stavis said, "but we understand her decision." On Monday, Prager told The Dartmouth that her resignation will ease the search to fill the post left empty by Dean of Faculty Ed Berger's resignation in December, because it is easier to attract candidates who feel they can take an active role in formulating new policies for the college. "The president and the faculty could consider now how the selection of a new dean of the faculty should go forward in the context of the need to appoint a new provost as well," Prager told the newspaper. Stavis also cited Prager's interest in broader leadership roles as a reason for her resignation. "She's certainly a visionary leader," she said, "and we wish her well." Prager's resignation comes at the end of a two-year tenure, which, though short, is not unusual -- Dartmouth's past two provosts left after terms of similar lengths. But Stavis said Prager has had a very successful stay at Dartmouth, impacting the school in many ways. "In two years she has accomplished an extraordinary number of things," Stavis said, citing a large student life initiative and several of the school's facilities projects. Prager's departure is not the first to hit the Ivy League this year. Havard University is currently searching for a new president, following the announcement that Neil Rudenstine will step down from his post in June. And Princeton University President Harold Shapiro said he will leave this summer after 13 years on the job.