For more than three decades, former Assistant Head of School Mr. Mark Thorburn’s responsibilities stretched from student support and health services to parking and campus security. With his retirement this summer, Haverford has permanently divided his former responsibilities among several existing administrators.
Head of School Mr. Tyler Casertano said the school spent time before Mr. Thorburn’s retirement deciding where each part of his unusually broad portfolio would go.
“He oversaw everything from student support to health services to parking and kind of everything in between,” Mr. Casertano said.
Part of the reason Mr. Thorburn had such a wide range of responsibilities was the way his position developed during his tenure at Haverford.
“There are certain areas of school that didn’t actually exist when Mr. Thorburn stepped into his role nearly three decades ago that now do exist and that are able to absorb those responsibilities in fairly obvious ways,” Mr. Casertano said.
One of the biggest changes involves campus operations. Chief Financial Officer Mr. Peter Maas now oversees parking and campus security, both previously under Mr. Thorburn.
Mr. Maas already oversees the school’s facilities team, which made those responsibilities a natural fit for his existing role.
Student support has been divided differently. Instead of one administrator overseeing health services, academic student support, and psychological services across the entire school, oversight will now depend on what grade the student is in.
Mr. Mark Fifer, Dr. Jay Greytok, and Mrs. Jenni Scoggin, the respective heads of the upper, middle, and lower schools, will oversee these areas within their divisions.
Mr. Thorburn’s crisis-management responsibilities have also been divided. Mr. Maas, Head of Communications Ms. Sarah Garling, and Head of Campus Safety Mr. Michael Chambers now share responsibility for crisis management. Each will handle responsibilities connected to their existing roles. Crisis communications, for example, will fall under Ms. Garling and the communications office.
Assistant Head of School for Academics Dr. Pamela Greenblatt will supervise the academic program in coordination with division heads and department chairs.
Mr. Thorburn had also been heavily involved in areas Dr. Greenblatt already oversaw, including professional development and the academic program, but he was not formally responsible for them.
According to Mr. Casertano, the new distribution of responsibilities is permanent.
When new needs emerged without an obvious office or administrator to handle them, those responsibilities often ended up with Mr. Thorburn.
“I would joke that nobody in their resume would have everything from academic student support to parking to the registrar,” Mr. Casertano said. “Mr. Thorburn was certainly a unicorn in that respect.”
Even with the number of responsibilities changing hands, Mr. Casertano said students should not expect much to change in their everyday experience at Haverford.
Mr. Casertano said many of Mr. Thorburn’s responsibilities were more staff-facing than student-facing, while the services themselves will continue under different administrators.
“I don’t think that any of you will, on a day-to-day basis, notice the difference,” Mr. Casertano said.
There is “no way to replace Mr. Thorburn on a human level.”
Head of School Mr. Tyler Casertano
What students will notice is Mr. Thorburn’s absence. In addition to his administrative work, he was a regular presence in the hallways, at games and performances, and in the woodshop, where he taught.
Mr. Casertano described Mr. Thorburn as a “pillar of our community” and expressed the school’s gratitude for his more than three decades of service.
While Haverford can distribute his former responsibilities among other administrators, Mr. Casertano said there is “no way to replace Mr. Thorburn on a human level.”
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