New VP of University Life Focuses on Students
 Margaret M. Higgins, USF’s new vice president for university life, is excited by the chance to create a new campus office that will integrate student services with academic opportunities to create an enhanced learning environment.
“Both the challenge and support await me on the West Coast,” Higgins said.
Higgins has been dean of students at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. for the last six years. She has worked with many of the same departments that will be accountable to her at USF—including services for the disabled, international and multicultural education, substance abuse and wellness programming, the student judiciary, and neighborhood and community relations.
“Anything students are involved in outside the classroom goes through (my office). I’m in constant collaboration with faculty, similar to what is happening at USF,” she said.
Higgins was one of five finalists selected by a university search committee headed by Tyrone Cannon, dean of Gleeson Library/Geschke Center. It was Higgins’ “overall leadership, commitment to student affairs, and her appreciation of the direction we’re moving in with the mission here,” that impressed the committee, Cannon said.
At Catholic University, Higgins has been an advocate for students. She plans to do the same at USF where she will report to Provost Jim Wiser and be a member of the president’s cabinet and leadership team. “Part of my role is not only articulating students’ needs but bringing them more fully into university life,” she said.
Higgins said her first step in promoting planning between student services and academic affairs would be to meet with students, academic affairs staff, and faculty. She said she will work with people on campus to determine what programs are essential and what resources they need. “How do we want to partner with different student populations?” she said. “How do we want their learning to be different?”
Higgins, who starts Oct. 28, said she was drawn to USF by its Vision, Mission and Values Statement and its emphasis on service learning.
“There was so much that rang true for me both professionally and personally,” she said. “It’s a real privilege to come in a leadership role to contribute to that vision.”
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