President of the College Raynard Kington recently announced his plans to take an eight-week sabbatical, which he intends to start on the Monday after Thanksgiving and end in the third week of January 2019. During Kington’s absence, Dean of the College Mike Latham will take over in his stead.
Scheduling his sabbatical presented its fair share of difficulties, as Kington said he wanted to remain at the College for certain events this semester. Furthermore, much of the time off will take place during winter break, before the College is once again in full swing.
“I now understand better why faculty are so careful about knowing as far in advance as possible, because it is hard to sort of clean your schedule,” said Kington. “So I didn’t want to leave before our Reaccreditation Visit, which happened last week, I think, and there are lots of other things happening. This is the only real time when I could do it.”
During his sabbatical, Kington will be engaged in a number of writing projects that he has been putting off, one of which is related to the College and the others regarding his general interests.
In his absence, Kington has no doubt that Latham will keep the College running smoothly.
“[Latham] is incredibly accomplished and knowledgeable … I anticipate there won’t be issues,” Kington said. “We’ve tried to go over the key issues and what things are in play, but Mike is very involved in decision-making here, most of things he knows pretty well.”
Kington also ensured that his chief staff will still be available during his sabbatical, and Angela Voos, chief of staff and president of planning, will stay in her role to ensure continuity of their work.
Latham expressed excitement about temporarily taking over the duties of the President.
“I am honored to support Grinnell’s community by acting as President during Dr. Kington’s leave,” wrote Latham in an email to The S&B. “This is an outstanding college, and I look forward to working with faculty, staff, students, and alumni during this period. I am also fortunate to have several talented and hardworking associate deans who will take on some of my usual responsibilities to allow me to work in this role. The college’s Senior Staff are also great partners, and we have always worked collaboratively.”
Concerning possible changes taking place during his presidency, Latham wrote, “This is a short period of sabbatical leave, part of which will take place during the holiday break. I expect that we will continue the college’s existing direction and plans during this time.”
Latham wrote that he will “aim to collaborate with colleagues and remain accessible to faculty and students as I have during my previous four years at Grinnell.”
