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Andy Thompson has been appointed director of administration and program support as part of a University Life reorganization.
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University Life Focuses on Student Needs
In an effort to more effectively focus the division of university life on student needs, the division has reorganized and added new positions.
The moves include hiring a dean of students—the position existed at USF until 1966—to oversee student support services. Two new administrative positions, director of administration and program support and associate dean and director of assessment, will provide budget planning and feedback on implementation of the division’s goals. Finally, a coordinator of university life outreach will be responsible for streamlining the seamless, Jesuit-centered living-learning experience the division hopes to foster.
The new model, implemented June 1, should help the division not only work toward supporting students in key areas such as diversity, retention, and leadership training, but ensure a constant review and improvement of services, said Margaret Higgins, vice president of university life.
“Educate, develop, and serve students. Those are the three areas of focus, the reasons we exist,” Higgins said. “Our job isn’t to write a mission statement but to manifest it.”
The reorganization was based in part on Planning Action Task Force (PATF) recommendations in 2001 that student affairs and academic affairs be merged in order to focus resources on student life and learning. A joint committee of student affairs and academic affairs staff, as well as students and faculty, were also consulted.
The reorganization eliminates or replaces three positions with five new ones. Three of the new titles are filled: Andrew Thomson, former acting vice president for student affairs, has been appointed director of administration and program support. The directors of career services and of the Koret Health and Recreation Center will also report to him. Lisa Ernstthal, international student adviser, was promoted to assistant director of international student services. Stephen J. Corder, S.J., a former pastoral minister in Richmond, was appointed coordinator of university outreach.
“Steve will infuse the Jesuit experience in everything we do,” Higgins said. “I will look to him to help bring the Ignatian vision alive on an incredibly faith-diverse campus.”
A search for a dean of students is in its final stages and an appointment should be made soon. A search is ongoing for an associate dean and director of assessment. The position of assistant dean for multicultural student services, formerly the director of multicultural and international student services, was vacant before Higgins took office and is currently being advertised.
The dean of students will focus on student retention and academic success, supporting students in crises, and overseeing the student exit interview process. All health, activity, and support services will report to the dean.
“We have developing adults with us so we have to care not just for their academic development but also their personal development,” Higgins said. “Through this model, we have links to the whole person.”
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