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BY RACHEL SCOTT

In print | Published April 7, 2005

Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Stuart Hain will take on a more central role at the college as he assumes the position of Associate Vice President for Facilities and Services in June. He will replace Larry Schall ’75, who is leaving the college to become president of Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.

In his current position, Hain oversees maintenance, grounds, environmental services and construction. His additional responsibilities in the new position will include supervision of the bookstore, college housing, dining services, occupational and environmental safety, the post office, the Scott Arboretum, and the maintenance of LPAC, according to an e-mail sent by President Al Bloom to the college community. He will also become a member of the president’s staff.

Among Hain’s first priorities are communicating with those in the areas he will soon be overseeing in order to get a more thorough sense of their needs. “The folks in the other departments that I didn’t have [under my supervision] before have been my peers until now, and so while they’ve been wonderfully supportive through this decision that the president made, I need to sit and talk with them about how I can best help them and understand more of what they do,” Hain said. “I understand on some level, but I’ve never been into the details.”

According to Hain, his current position will be subsumed under his new one.

He did not discuss any plans for major capital or facilities projects, saying that establishing this communication was his first concern. He noted that he is entering the position at an interesting time because the current major capital projects are coming to an end and a new planning process for improvements to the college will likely begin within a few years.

As for more general goals, Hain said, “If there’s a dream, it’s that we think in an integrative way about how we serve this campus. What form that takes, I’m not sure yet.”

Hain drew a distinction between the facilities departments he currently oversees and the areas he will take on. “[Facilities] kind of sees its mission as eliminating distractions for students. If you don’t know we’re here and you don’t need us, we’re probably doing pretty well — or if when you do need us, we’re there quickly,” he said. By contrast, “The services that the dining hall, the bookstore and the post office provide are more direct.”

But Hain does not believe that difference will require a major shift in mindset on his part. “I’ve always seen service to the students as a big key to what we do and what we’re here for [in facilities], and service to faculty and staff is important, too. So for me it doesn’t take thinking about it too differently,” he said.

Vice President Maurice Eldridge ’61 said he believes Hain will carry many strengths from his current position into his new one. “In addition to his complete professional qualifications — that is to say, his knowledge of construction, architecture, facilities, in particular — he brings a warm and gentle personality,” Eldridge said. “He is open and accessible, he listens well and is responsive, and he is really dedicated to this institution. I think those qualities will display themselves and be effective in the areas that are added to his responsibility.”

Schall has worked closely with Hain for over a decade, even before Hain worked for the college. They first worked together when Hain was in the construction industry and served as project manager for the construction of LPAC, and Schall was later instrumental in hiring Hain as Director of Facilities in 1991.

“I could tell within a few months of working with him that he had an exceptional ability to get things done and to treat people right,” Schall said. “That initial sense […] has been the case day in and day out.”

Hain also spoke highly of his experience working with Schall and called him a great educator and a friend.

One area in which Hain will not follow in Schall’s footsteps, however, is the latter’s fierce competition in intramural sports.

Hain said that while he considers himself a strong swimmer, he does not intend to carry on Schall’s legacy on the field or the court. “If I do, somebody will probably have to carry me away,” he said.

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