Chatham University announced the hiring of Chief of Staff Dr. Patsy Kraeger in an email sent over the summer of 2024. Though this role is new to the University, the chief of staff was created to help manage foundational relations, community engagement and serve as secretary to the Board of Trustees, housed in the president’s office.
So why did the University decide to bring in a chief of staff? Kraeger has been working toward supporting Chatham’s mission and goals as she has begun seeking funding and partnerships for the University since being announced as chief of staff on July 15, 2024. A large aspect of the chief of staff’s work is developing relationships with outside foundations.
Vice President of Marketing and Communications Bill Campbell explained that many responsibilities fall under the umbrella of the chief of staff title.
“The Chief of Staff also serves as Secretary to the Board and is responsible for planning and coordinating the activities and meetings of the Board and associated Board Committees. The Chief of Staff is a member of the President’s Leadership Team and Cabinet,” Campbell said in an email interview.
The position was introduced on the heels of the University-wide reorganization to further grow funds.
“President Phillips expanded this position to include oversight for government and foundation relations, which is critical to helping raise funds to support the university’s mission and students,” Campbell said via email.
With a PhD in public policy and public administration, Kraeger has worked at California State University and Georgia Southern University. As she has taken on a new role, Kraeger said students are at the forefront of her priorities.
“You really want to believe in your main constituent, and that’s your student,” Kraeger said. “I’m just really passionate about being in a position where I can help advance students on a systemic level, as opposed to when you’re in the classroom. It’s on an individual level, which is great, too.”
Kraeger found employment at Chatham University after she and Phillips have worked together in the past. Questions have been raised by the Chatham community regarding the ethics of the hiring process for this position as Kraeger is a past collaborator of University President Rhonda Phillips.
“Dr. Phillips and I have conducted research together,” Kraeger said when asked how she found Chatham. “I’m familiar with her work, both scholarly and academic work, because we are scholarly research partners in the areas of economic and community development, community well being.”
Chatham community members have raised concerns about the preexisting relationship between Kraeger and Phillips, as it was noted that there was no open search for the chief of staff position. Phillips elaborated in an email interview the details of hiring staff without an open search.
“This is a direct report to the president. I recruited her as a candidate, having known of her excellent work in the areas where Chatham needs to have expertise and assistance to improve funding, partnership development and other aspects to move Chatham forward,” Phillips said.
Additionally, Kraeger was immediately granted tenure and full professor ranking when hired, despite never having worked at Chatham before. This fact was stressed by Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Jennie Sweet-Cushman as she voiced frustrations about the lack of communication on the University’s behalf when Kraeger was hired.
“There was barely even an announcement. I found out that she was coming to Chatham with tenure and as a full professor on LinkedIn,” Sweet-Cushman said.
Accessible on the University website, Chatham’s faculty manual outlines the administrative organization and corresponding regulations.
“Tenure is the status attained after an appropriate probationary period by faculty members who normally have full-time appointments as teachers and whom the University wishes to retain for a long-term appointment,” states the manual.
With diversity and inclusion as one of the University’s main pillars, some of the Chatham community has voiced dissatisfaction in the hiring process. Chatham Faculty United noted in a newsletter dating back to August a list of decisions made by the administration without consulting the Chatham faculty — one being the hiring of Kraeger without an open search.
As stated by the Chatham website, equal opportunity and affirmative action are integral to employment.
Sweet-Cushman explained that when a staff member who has past connections to the president of a university is hired with no open search process, this is not considered in best hiring practices.
“We’re getting away from there being a democratic process around hiring, and also getting away from the DEI process around hiring as well. So I’m concerned about the centralization of power around hiring and now tenure and promotion,” Sweet-Cushman said.
Director of the Women’s Institute and Associate Professor of Gender Studies Dr. Jessie Ramey said she believes in the importance of diverse hiring practices.
“Chatham has been doing really important work in the last several years to improve our [hiring] practices, and so I would like to see any of our staff hires continue to be done using those best practices so that we have a diverse faculty and staff, because we know that’s what’s best for our students,” Ramey said.
Sweet-Cushman additionally emphasized that some faculty are upset as the reorganization plan eliminated staff positions, but the University has now brought on a new chief of staff position.
“Faculty are very unhappy. They feel undervalued, they feel disrespected,” Sweet-Cushamn said. “I think ‘afraid’ is the most appropriate word because of the way that people are treated when their positions are eliminated and how there doesn’t seem to be anybody who’s safe.”
With critical importance placed on diversity and community at Chatham, faculty are hoping to move in the right direction with best hiring practices.
