Special Campus Memo: BOT Grants Leadership Sabbatical
Nov 8, 2018
Dear Grinnellians,
As members of an academic community, you are familiar with sabbaticals, which generally allow, after several years of service, for faculty members to step away from normal teaching and administrative responsibilities for a semester or year time period in order to focus on a scholarly matter, research, or writing.
You may not be aware that many institutions, including Grinnell College, extend sabbatical privileges to select senior administrative leaders. With that context I want to share that the Grinnell College Board of Trustees offered President Raynard S. Kington a brief presidential sabbatical within the 2018-19 academic year, in recognition of his exemplary leadership over the last eight years.
The Board is pleased to be able to grant President Kington this well-deserved opportunity to set aside some of his many responsibilities and focus on his own writing projects. The Board and President Kington have been in discussion regarding the logistics of his sabbatical for some time. While he could very well have proposed a longer sabbatical, President Kington identified the eight weeks beginning in mid-November and ending prior to the beginning of spring semester 2019 as an opportune window of time so as to minimize impact on institutional priorities, such as our Higher Learning Commission (HLC) reaccreditation process, and the appointments of several Senior Staff members.
During this sabbatical, the Board of Trustees will appoint Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Michael Latham to serve as Acting President from Nov. 26 through Jan. 22.
As Chair, I know I speak for all of our trustees, when I say how profoundly grateful we are for President Kington's ongoing leadership and service. The Board looks forward to 2019, and President Kington's return to the crucial leadership role he so ably fills for our College.
Sincerely,
Patricia Jipp Finkelman '80
Chair, Grinnell College Board of Trustees
Dear Grinnellians,
I want to publicly thank Chairperson Finkelman and all the trustees for granting me a sabbatical. Soon, I will have no good excuse for claiming writer's block. Beyond my personal gratitude for being accorded this privilege, I want to acknowledge that Grinnell College would not be the remarkable place it is without the dedicated service of the trustees who care so passionately about our mission.
My thanks, as well, to Mike Latham and all who will take on extra responsibility during my sabbatical. The Board and I have complete confidence that he and all of you will carry on seamlessly.
I am very gratified by my work here at Grinnell. My sabbatical will simply give me an opportunity to focus on my writing for a brief time. I also am looking forward to 2019, and to working with all of you as we take on new challenges and opportunities for Grinnell in the new year.
Sincerely,
Raynard S. Kington
President, Grinnell College