What are the duties of the vice president for student affairs? That is not an easy answer because every day is different. That’s one of the things I love about the work we do. By and large, student affairs staff members are here to support a student’s journey while on campus. We provide services, programs, and initiatives that complement what a student is learning in the classroom. We also try to ensure they have all the resources they need to be successful and graduate.
I oversee all of the enrollment management functions – admissions, financial aid, the registrar – those programs that bring the students in the door. I also handle the programmatic things, such as fraternity and sorority life, volunteer organizations, the Plaster Student Union, and student government. All of those out-of-classroom, engagement opportunities, things that help a student connect to the campus and feel some pride in being a Bear, are under the student affairs banner. Also included are the Taylor Health and Wellness Center, the bookstore, dining services, housing and residential education, the dean for students, and counseling and career services. Student affairs works with the out of classroom learning component.
You succeeded 20-year MSU veteran Earle Doman as vice president for student affairs. How do you plan to fill his shoes? Dr. Doman left big shoes for me to fill. I think my passion and drive for working with students will help lead us to the next steps. Here at student affairs, we are going to start a strategic planning process later this fall so we can take a look at everything we are doing and look at if we are best meeting their needs. [Asking,] are there things we want to do differently to help support MSU achievement set forth in our long-range plan?
Tell us more about the strategic planning process and how it aligns with your first-year goals. The strategic planning initiative is a big goal, my big goal. It’s really important because, currently, student affairs doesn’t have a strategic plan. This will be a very big undertaking. I’m very interested in assessment so we can make data-driven decisions about the work we do. Getting my arms around what is already being done and how we make meaning of the data we already have – that will be the priority for this year.
We do all kinds of surveys and gather information from students, so I don’t think there is a shortage of information. It’s trying to figure out how we make meaning of that information. What does that mean about our students? How do we shape our student programs and services to best match student needs?
I had my all-staff meeting a couple of weeks ago and talked about where we are and where we are going. I also talked about team orientation. How do we help our staff continue to feel motivated about the work they do, challenged by it and invigorated to come to work every day. Students are our focus, and by being happy team members, we can better serve those students.
Most recently, you were the interim vice president for student affairs at the University of South Florida. What lessons from that experience will you implement at MSU? I’m not sure I can whittle it down to a few lessons. In the 20-some years I have worked in higher education, I have had a chance to work with all kinds of students in all kinds of settings. Through those experiences I have learned relationship building is very important. I like working as a team. My approach would be working with not only the staff in student affairs, but also with the students. Together we will be able to figure out how we can make MSU the best place it can be for students. Working with people is a lot more enjoyable than trying to do something on your own. Working with people makes a better environment for everyone. I will use a relationship approach here. I’ve seen all different kinds of approaches and initiatives. Some would work here, some wouldn’t work here. Every campus is different. That is where the strategic planning process will come into play. It will really help us look at our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and will help us to make sure the work we are doing is aligned with the MSU long-range plan and with the key performance indicators prioritized by the university.[[In-content Ad]]
