Larry Moneta's family must have given Durham the okay, because he's coming to Duke.
Following a year-long search, President Nan Keohane announced yesterday Moneta's appointment as Duke's next vice president for student affairs.
Currently associate vice president for campus services at the University of Pennsylvania, Moneta accepted the offer last weekend when he and his wife, Judy, visited Duke.
"With Larry, we are hoping and expecting that Student Affairs will be a more visible counsel in discussions about the role of students within the overall interest of the University," Keohane said. "I found Larry interesting... because his record tells us that he has the strong combination of valuing input and consultation, but at the same time knowing when a decision needs to be made."
Pending approval from the Board of Trustees, Moneta will assume his new post Aug. 1.
Jim Clack, interim vice president for student affairs, has agreed to extend his tenure by an additional month. Moneta will officially replace former vice president for student affairs Janet Dickerson, who left last July for Princeton University.
Keohane selected Moneta over University of Southern California Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Cynthia Cherrey and Duke
For the past three years, Moneta has led Penn's implementation of a comprehensive residential college system, which included over $300 million in dormitory renovations. Because of Moneta's experience in residential life, he and Executive Vice President Tallman Trask are currently discussing the potential move of the Department of Housing Management-which maintains Duke's dormitories and runs facility repairs and housekeeping-from the purview of Auxiliary Services to the Division of Student Affairs.
"This has been discussed as long as I remember," said Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs. "This will certainly make for more seamless services, communication and decisions."
Moneta, who also handled services such as dining and athletics at Penn, said that he has not ruled out additional changes to the division. He said he wants to consult with other administrators before identifying other areas of consolidation.
"I look forward to expeditious and effective change within Student Affairs," Moneta said. "I'm trying to bring decisiveness. However, I don't want to bring about change that is unreasoned."
Keohane and others said Moneta's strong decision-making abilities will make him an effective leader. "He has a lot of management experience. He'll bring an important financial perspective to the job," Clack said."He's a very decisive leader and, from my understanding, a good listener. You can probably count on decisions being made a lot quicker."
Moneta cautioned that the ability to make effective decisions should not be taken as inability to compromise or lack of receptiveness to input. "My experience is that I'm adaptive to my colleagues. You don't work in student affairs without being flexible," he said. "I'm not a one-size-fits-all leader."
Administrators in the Student Affairs division said they are enthusiastic about Moneta's appointment as vice president and look forward to working with him in the future. "We're very excited about helping him with the transition," said Barbara Baker, dean of student development.
Before becoming Penn's associate vice president, Moneta served as the school's associate vice provost for university life.
In this position, Moneta, who holds a doctorate in education from the University of Michigan, was in charge of academic programs in residence halls and non-academic programs such as drug and alcohol education. Moneta and his wife have two children.
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