After twenty years away from his alma mater, 1987 Penn graduate Eric Furda will be back this March - with a few more responsibilities than he had while he was here as a student.
As announced last week, Furda will first serve as Special Assistant to the President - a job title created specifically for this situation - before taking on full responsibilities as the new Dean of Admissions on July 1.
President Amy Gutmann described the temporary position as a "transitional role" to get reacquainted with Penn.
"Eric Kaplan will continue to be the Dean of Admissions," Gutmann said. "Eric will handle everything with Admissions until July 1."
Furda added that the lack of the word 'admissions' in his transitional job title "makes it very clear" that he will not take part in the selection of the Class of 2012.
"I will be learning about my future responsibilities without interfering with the staff in College Hall," he said. "Their priority is selecting the Class of 2012 and they don't need any distraction - certainly not from me."
In addition to "getting a sense of Penn's admissions process", Furda said he planned on discovering what changes have taken place on campus since he left.
"Professionally, this is a very rare opportunity to have before you hit the ground running," he said.
Furda said he will learn about Penn personnel, student and academic life.
He has already been in touch with Senior Class President Puneet Singh and Undergraduate Assembly chairman Jason Karsh.
"I want to build some level of a presence on campus," Furda said. "Let's face it, the student life is the story we need to tell through admissions."
Furda said his specific responsibilities as Special Assistant are still undecided.
College Dean Dennis DeTurck said Furda will be in touch with all four undergraduate schools "as he settles in."
"I'm looking forward to getting to know Eric Furda when he arrives and to working closely with him as he assumes the role of Admissions Dean," DeTurck said. "He has the advantage of being an alum, so he'll have an interesting perspective to share with his staff and with the public."
Furda added that he left his job at Columbia University shortly after his appointment at Penn was finalized "out of fairness to his constituency" there.
"It just didn't make sense to stay at Columbia much longer," he said.
