HPA in flux after director resigns

On Thursday afternoon, Dean of the College Valerie Smith announced that Cummings had resigned from his position, effective immediately, for “personal reasons.” Cummings has been replaced by former Associate Director of HPA Jess Deutsch ’91, who left her prior position at HPA in January to become the new director of student life at Forbes College. But in February, after only one month in Forbes, she resigned from that position as well. Now, in March, Deutsch is returning to HPA as part-time acting director.

When Deutsch left Forbes in February, Lyra Plumer GS ’11, who served as acting DSL in Forbes, returned to her previous position in the wake of Deutsch’s quick departure.

Cummings’ resignation last week has left premedical students in the air. On Monday, Cummings said in an email to HPA students that he had to leave due to personal reasons.

“For personal reasons, I need to be at home with my family right now, and given the demands on my time at HPA, I felt I needed to resign from my position as your director,” he said.

Neither Deutsch, Cummings nor Smith could be reached for comment.

Smith’s email on Thursday mentioned that the University was nearing the end of its search for a permanent associate director, the position that Deutsch left when she became DSL of Forbes. The email did not say, however, whether the University was searching for a new, permanent HPA Director.

The application process for medical school is special because it starts a year and a half before enrollment. HPA advises premedical students to begin the application process during their junior year, unless they are planning to take a year off after graduation. Most juniors are therefore currently in the middle of the process. According to its website, HPA writes a committee letter on behalf of every student, helps gather faculty recommendations and conducts practice interviews.

Juniors applying to medical school said that Cummings’ departure — and the general turbulence at HPA — have left them uneasy.

Jeff Epstein ’13, who said he is applying to medical school in the upcoming months, expressed his frustration about the situation.

“The idea that whoever will be writing my committee letter this coming June will only be able to meet with me once, if that, is not helping me start the process off on the right foot,” he said.

Epstein is also a sports writer for The Daily Princetonian.

Alex Bailin ’13, who will not be applying to medical school until next year, shared Epstein’s view. She was expecting Cummings to write a recommendation letter for her.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“Each student needs a recommendation from Princeton from an adviser who actually knows the student well,” she said in an email. “I met with Dr. Cummings every time I visited HPA and assumed that he would write my recommendation.”

There are concerns not only about advising and recommendations, but also about the amount of time Deutsch will be able to dedicate to her HPA position while serving part-time.

“Now Ms. Deutsch only has drop-in hours twice a week, for an hour and a half each time,” Bailin said. According to a March 16 version of the HPA website, Cummings had a total of six hours a week for drop-in hours.

However, Kelly Harchut ’12 expressed her confidence that the temporary chaos will be resolved.

“Although Dr. Cummings will most certainly be missed, I am confident that Princeton will still support those students applying to medical school and be able to provide guidance for students,” she said in an email.

But according to Bailin, a solution has to come soon.

“All I can say is they need to find another director of HPA right away.”

Correction: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this story misstated the medical school plans of Alex Bailin '13. She plans to apply to medical school next year and has not yet received a recommendation from HPA. The 'Prince' regrets the error.