Looking internally

Eighteen long months after the search began, the Student Health Center announced this week that it has chosen a new executive director. Dr. Bill Purdy will officially take over the helm of the health center July 1. But it won’t exactly be his first day on the job. Purdy has been a physician at Duke since 1998. A favorite doctor of many students, he has been interim medical director at Student Health and has experience with the medicine, the education and the insurance concerns that are particular to a university population.

The people who run the Division of Student Affairs, which assumed oversight of Student Health a year ago, say they are thrilled that Purdy will serve as the first executive director. As administrators coo with each new appointment, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said the search yielded “the best possible fit.” If that’s true, why did the search take a year and half to choose an internal candidate?

In fact, the University has searched for an executive director in two phases. The first candidate rejected Duke’s offer, and the University decided to start over. Purdy told The Chronicle that he did not feel qualified for the position when the first search took place, but by the time the position was re-advertised, he realized that he had plenty of experience.

Duke’s major goal for Student Health right now is to change both its function and its image from a drop-in center for sick people to a learning and teaching facility about nutrition, health and wellness. To accomplish this, the health center will need to step up its outreach efforts and connect better with students outside of its sterile facilities. Much of this work has already begun, and Purdy has been involved in the process, allowing for a quick transition of leadership after the long delay.

If Purdy is the best person to take Student Health in this direction, the University conducted its first search poorly. It should have better explained the position to current employees so that all qualified internal candidates, such as Purdy, could come forward. If Duke did properly advertise the job to its employees, then perhaps the University, anxious to end a seemingly endless search, is just settling on the candidate who is good enough for now.