Offices of the Dean of Student Life History
The Department of Student Affairs was established in 1975 to address
the student service needs of the growing population of "civilian" (non-cadet)
students at Texas A&M University. The Department had responsibility for civilian
student housing, civilian student discipline and an off campus housing center. In 1987,
the University received a grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for
the Improvement for Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) to establish the Center for Drug
Prevention and Education. In 1989, the Department of Student Affairs expanded to take in
Student’s Attorney and Handicap Services, two departments that had reported to the
Vice President for Student Services.
With the growth of "civilian" student services, the
Department of Student Affairs was reorganized in 1990 to place all student life functions
(Center for Drug Prevention and Education, Student Judicial Affairs and Withdrawals, Off
Campus Center, Handicap Services, Student’s Attorney, and Student Orientation) under
one associate director. The residence life component remained the central focus of the
department and reported to the director. In 1991, the department reorganized again to
establish the Student Conflict Resolution Center. With this reorganization, Student
Judicial Affairs and Student’s Attorney, and a new program, Negotiation and Mediation
Services, were housed in one location following the "multi-door courthouse"
approach to resolving conflicts and grievances. Further development occurred in 1994 when
the Vice President’s office provided funding for women’s programs and a
Coordinator of Women’s Programs was added to the student life component of the
Department of Student Affairs.
In January of 1993, John J. Koldus, the first Vice President for
Student Services, announced his impending retirement. In response, Texas A&M
University President, Bill Mobley, appointed a University-wide search committee that
included representatives from the Federation of Aggie Mothers' Clubs and the local
communities. Because the search extended beyond Dr. Koldus's retirement date, the
President appointed Associate Vice President for Student Services, Dr. J. Malon
Southerland, to serve as Interim Vice President.
Dr. Koldus's retirement and the appointment of Dr. J. Malon Southerland
as Vice President for Student Affairs marked the first significant changes in the Division
of Student Services. The Division changed its name from "Student Services" to
"Student Affairs." Also during this time, the University completed an audit of
Business Services and recommended, among other things, that the business operations and
fiscal control of the residence hall system, along with University Apartments, should be
joined with the residence life operation.
In 1995, with the addition of fiscal responsibility for housing and the
University Apartments, the Department of Student Affairs became larger and more
programmatically diverse than other departments in the Division of Student Affairs. As a
result, in January of 1995, the Department of Student Affairs was dissolved and the
Offices of the Dean of Student Life and the Department of Residence Life and Housing (later changed
to Residence Life) were created. In February of 1995 the two departments physically split
and the Offices of the Dean of Student Life established a central office in newly renovated space
on the third floor of the YMCA Building. The two departments shared budget and some
support personnel for another year.
The Offices of the Dean of Student Life has designated February 1, 1995 as the
"birth" of the department. Dr. Brent Paterson, formerly Associate Director of
Student Affairs, was appointed Director of Student Life and Kristin Sayre, formerly
Assistant to the Director of Student Affairs, was appointed Associate Director. Program
and service areas included Off Campus Housing, Women's Programs, Disability Services,
Orientation, Center for Drug Prevention and Education, Student Conflict Resolution
Services, student absence notification and a fledgling critical incident response program
(see organizational chart). Funding for the Department came from Student Service Fees and
State E&G funds. These budgets were supplemented by gifts from concessions funds and
others sources, such as donations from Mother's Clubs. Within the first six months of
operation, the Department had added an Accounting Assistant, Staff Assistant and
Microcomputer Specialist.
During the spring of 1995, the Department began developing an identity,
modeled after dean of student operations at similarly sized schools. In addition, a
representative group of staff began formulating a mission statement for the department. At
the Department’s first retreat, in May of 1995, the mission statement was completed
and adopted. (See Appendix 2) The mission statement represents the Department’s
philosophy to provide education, outreach and support for students through a variety of
diverse student programs and services. The mission statement has been modified only to
include new programs and student populations and to attend to citations from the
"grammar police."
At this same time, talented staff submitted ideas for a department
logo. After some time, the department identified a design that symbolized the
department’s mission, as well as functions. The "DSL Star" was simple
enough to reproduce easily on documents and could be incorporated into all the
department’s programs and services. The five points of the star symbolized the five
offices in the department at that time: Disability Services, Center for Drug Prevention
Education, Student Life Orientation, Student Life Programs and Student Conflict Resolution
Services.
The retreat also provided a forum for the Director of Student Life to
present his vision for the department. He simply stated that he wanted Student Life to be
the "Southwest Airlines of the Division of Student Affairs." He wanted the
department to provide professional, state of the art service to students while having fun.
More specifically, he discussed the importance of learning in order to grow, of being
creative without fear of failure, of caring enough to help students and their parents, and
of supporting each other as a family.
In the fall of 1995, the department received funding from the Associate
Provost for Information Technology to help establish Adaptive Technology Services for
students with disabilities. A Coordinator of Adaptive Technology Services was hired and an
adaptive equipment lab developed in Hart Hall. Although adaptive technologies had been
used as accommodations for students with disabilities in the past, this lab provided
state-of-the art accommodations and individual assistance to students.
As the department developed, opportunities became available for senior
level coordinators to take on administrative responsibilities. Ann Coombes Goodman was
named Assistant Director of Student Life Programs and Gene Zdziarski was named the
Assistant Director of Student Conflict Resolution Center. Both Assistant Directors
maintained their program and supervisory responsibilities and were given administrative
duties.
In the summer of 1996 the Director met with the administrative staff to
review their functions. Although both Gene and Ann were assistant directors, their
location in program/service offices and away from the general administration of the
department, precluded them from involvement in the daily operations of the department. In
addition, both Gene and Ann had taken on department-wide responsibilities but had not
released any of their responsibilities in the program areas they supervised. Although
space in the Central Administration office area was limited, moving the directors’
staff to a common location became a priority.
Along with considering the growth and development of the department, it
was also important to consider the developmental needs of department staff. Discussions
with Gene and Ann indicated their interest in developing new skills and working with new
areas. Kristin also had some areas she wanted to develop and some that she wanted to have
less focus on. The result of this discussion is lovingly known as "the big
switcheroo" or "TBS." The main component of TBS was the change in
supervisory responsibility for Gene and Ann. After six years working with judicial
services, Gene was ready for a change and some new challenges. Likewise, Ann had spent her
career in student program and service delivery and was interested in developing new
skills. So, they were "switched." Gene was given supervisory responsibility for
the program and service areas Ann had (off campus, graduate and adult students,
women’s programs) and Ann was given responsibility for Student Conflict Resolution
Services. In order to accomplish this, Lori Maxwell, an SDS I, was moved to Koldus 112 to
coordinate adult and graduate student services. This move gave Lori, a new professional,
some program responsibility, and offered adult and graduate students a specific program
function area.
The Director invited staff members in these areas to lunch to unveil
TBS prior to the August moving dates. Although they were naturally suspicious when they
were offered a free meal, the reaction of the staff was very positive. Overall, staff saw
this as a wonderful opportunity for Gene and Ann and proof of the Department’s
commitment to staff development. In fact, two smaller "switcheroos" were
implemented in the next few months to accommodate staff development interests and provide
solutions to department staffing problems. In one of these cases, staff took on extra
responsibilities in order to allow a colleague to have a developmental job change.
Along with "the big switcheroo," 1996 was a time for the
department to begin to assert its identity. Because of the department’s seven
locations in five buildings, it was difficult to recognize. In an attempt to form a common
identity, the department logo was added to the doors of all offices and each office name
was changed to include "Student Life." So, for example, Support Services for
Students with Disabilities became Student Life Services for Students with Disabilities.
The Center for Drug Prevention and Education and the Student Conflict Resolution Center
dropped the exclusive "center concept" and became instead, Student Life Alcohol
and Drug Education Programs and Student Conflict Resolution Services. A department flyer
(see blueprint) was developed and plans made for a department website.
1997 brought additional growth and change to the Department of Student
Life. After years of constant and demanding case loads, the department was finally able to
add a second judicial officer to work with the student discipline system. The addition of
a half-time Accommodations Counselor in Disability Services provided needed relief to the
coordinator and gay, lesbian and bisexual student services were added to Women’s
Programs. To reflect the new identity, Women’s Programs name was changed to Gender
Issues Education Services. Last, but certainly not least, in the summer of 1997, the
department began a year-long process of developing core values. These values, as
identified by staff, will serve as the rudder and help guide future growth, development
and decisions.
While the department was learning and growing in its identity, David
Sweeney, Coordinator of Adaptive Technology Services was researching and developing a plan
to develop a consortium of schools (both secondary and higher education) to share
textbooks that had been converted from printed text to electronic format. David’s
idea was generated by the countless hours spent by his staff converting printed textbooks
into formats that could be used by students with vision and learning disabilities. Working
with the Texas A&M System’s General Counsel, David wound his way through
legislation, copyright laws and contractual agreements to develop the Texas Text Exchange.
Students from participating institutions can now have access to an entire library of
publications that have already been translated into electronic format. The library is
managed by Adaptive Technology Services using a server obtained through special funding
for technology offered by the Vice President for Student Affairs. Participating schools
submit the books they have already converted and students, with the purchase of a hard
copy of the book, access the books (using a secure password) through the internet. The
program is staffed by Toby Boenig, assigned to Disability Services through a project
funded by the Office of the President and the Vice President for Student Affairs. The
Texas Text Exchange has received national attention and is sure to be duplicated.
1998 was to be a year of "settling" for the Department of
Student Life; staff were established in new positions, supervisors in place and the
Director staff comfortable with their areas of responsibility. And then came the Friday in
April that changed the department.
Brent Paterson, Director of Student Life, knew that a meeting with the
Vice President for Student Affairs and both of the Associate Vice Presidents was
significant. What he didn’t expect was that on this Good Friday he would be asked to
consider moving the Greek Life component of the Department of Student Activities to the
Department Student Life. The facts were clear; the growth of the Greek System made it even
more difficult to fit into the role of traditional student organizations Student
Activities was designed to manage. The Offices of the Dean of Student Life’s development into
a "Dean of Students" function and the skills and experience of staff made the
move a possibility. Over the next few months, staff in Student Activities, Student Life
and the Vice President’s office reviewed the implications of the move. Budgets,
space, and staffing were all considered. By June, the Associate Vice President for Student
Affairs, Jan Winniford, had decided to move Greek Life to Student Life.
The addition of Greek Life had serious implications on the organization
of Student Life. Assistant Director Ann Goodman had Greek experience and had served on the
Division of Student Affairs’ Greek Life Task Force. Her personal interest made her
the obvious choice for directing the new component of the department. However, her current
responsibility for Student Conflict Resolution Services created potential for conflict of
interest and time demands needed to direct both of these areas would be difficult to
manage. It was time to "Do the Shuffle."
Any change in Ann’s areas of responsibility obviously impacted the
others on the Director’s staff so it was time again to review the organization of the
Offices of the Dean of Student Life. Rather than looking at individual professional development and
interest, it was necessary to look at all of the functions of the Director’s staff.
To do so, the Director’s staff met at Kristin’s home and brainstormed all of the
areas of responsibility each member held. Once these were identified, each area was listed
on a piece of colored paper and placed in the middle of the room. Then the shuffle began
and lasted until each piece of paper had been relocated into one of the directors’
corners. Staff members had assigned responsibilities along with areas they had
"dibbed" because of personal interest. In the end, the organizational chart
would be changed, once again, with Gene gaining responsibility for Student Conflict
Resolution Services, Ann having Greek Life, the Central Administration clerical staff, and
a graduate assistant to coordinate staff development and publications. Lastly, Gender
Issues Education Services went to Kristin.
Once a plan was in place, announcements were made to individual staff
members in Greek Life and then to both the departments of Student Activities and Student
Life almost simultaneously. The Offices of the Dean of Student Life’s Directors, wearing
Groucho Marx noses and glasses, presented the information to staff in a called meeting,
complete with food, a dead giveaway that things were about to change - again! As
expected, staff in the Offices of the Dean of Student Life took the news with enthusiasm and looked
forward to welcoming Greek Life into the Department on July 1, 1998.
With the recent developments, the Offices of the Dean of Student Life has
continued to mature. Most of the original goals for the department were accomplished.
Others have been redefined. It is now time to re-evaluate what we are as a department and
where we are going.
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