When top fundraising official Virginia Clark left Penn for the Smithsonian in June 2002, University President Judith Rodin announced that a nationwide search would be conducted to find a replacement. This past March, the search continued, and the University was deep in the process of interviewing candidates for the post.
Now, after 15 months of searching, Penn is throwing in the towel. Although the woman who currently fills the position, Medha Narvekar, still has an interim tag next to her name, Penn officials have decided to wait until the new president takes office to restart the search process.
At this point in the process, the University has no choice but to wait. As Rodin herself pointed out, no one would be willing to accept the position without knowing who the next president will be.
But it should never have reached this point. Penn officials had over a year to fill one of the most important vacancies in the administration, and they failed to do so. Now, one of the first issues that the new president will have to tackle is an administrative vacancy, a problem that has proven difficult to resolve.
The University was extremely fortunate that fundraising is one of Rodin's greatest strengths, and she and Narvekar have handled the increased responsibility well. The new president, however, may not be as well versed in higher education fundraising and may require some tutoring.
Rodin has already turned down the chancellor position that would have eliminated the need for a vice president of fundraising. This means that by the time the new president takes office, Penn will have been without a head of fundraising for two full years. With yet another search process, it could well be another year before a successor is found. Virginia Clark's departure was a major blow to the University, and Rodin's impending departure will only exacerbate the situation.
Whomever it is that eventually fills this position must be a long-term solution. With the postal lands purchase on the horizon and buildings ready for renovations, fundraising could be the key to Penn's future success.
The chief fundraising position has been vacant for too long, and we hope that the new president will do a more efficient job of filling it before the damage is done.
