Provost Carolyn Dever announced the appointment of interim Dean of the College Inge-Lise Ameer to the newly created position of vice provost for student affairs, effective July 1, 2015, in a campus-wide email circulated Monday morning. In addition, Dever announced the launch of an internal search for a new dean of the College, which will begin later in April.
Ameer will bring nearly all of her old responsibilities as interim dean to her new role, Dever said, and will serve as a force of accountability for student affairs.
“This is a change of title, and many aspects of the current dean of the College will accompany the new title,” Dever said.
Ameer said she was delighted to take on her new role and continue her work with Dartmouth students and staff. Increased focus on student services will be the key difference between her new role as vice provost for student affairs and her current position as interim dean, Ameer said.
The new dean of the College will work more on the academic side, Ameer said, while she will continue to work with student-focused areas such as Student Academic Support Services, Dick’s House, campus life, the Collis Center and the judicial affairs office. Ameer emphasized that she will remain accessible to students, and wants them to be engaged in decision-making processes.
“I feel like I’m a strong advocate for students,” Ameer said. “I think what we’ll see, which I think is really encouraging, is more partnership from the dean of the College with the faculty side of the house system.”
Ameer said her goals include a successful implementation of the house system, the continuation of programs such as the First Year Student Enrichment Program, improvements to career services and adherence to the goals outlined by College President Phil Hanlon in the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy initiative. She said she hopes to continue meeting with students as these plans evolve.
The search for the new dean will be internal, Dever said, open to any tenured faculty member “with a passion for the academic undergraduate experience.”
The new dean of the College will be the academic leader of the residential community system initiative outlined in the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” plan, Dever said. The dean will lead the new cohort of house professors, and will convene “serious working groups” on diversity and inclusion within the academic experience, Dever added.
“I’m looking for a professor who really gets the undergraduate student experience, has a passion for inclusivity, a real understanding of the fact that Dartmouth students are Dartmouth students 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year,” Dever said. “The living-learning experience is what we’re here to provide.”
The new dean will also lead the process of relaying suggestions to Dever herself and Hanlon regarding future admissions and financial aid strategies “to optimize Dartmouth’s position in the admissions landscape,” Dever said.
The search is being led by Denise Anthony, vice provost for academic initiatives, Dever said. Anthony could not be reached for comment by press time.
These changes come as part of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy initiatives to synthesize academics and student life, Dever said. Dartmouth students should expect “real clarity” in various aspects of student affairs, including student organizations, co-curricular opportunities and other student life activities on campus, Dever said. Students should also anticipate “a new level of faculty engagement and academic clarity.”
By clarity, Dever said she means that these administrative changes will make student affairs more focused and will offer a more direct approach to student affairs, though administrative procedures and ways of doing business will remain largely unchanged.
Along with the new dean, the new role of vice provost for student affairs will be essential in combining academics and student life, Dever said.
“I envision the new dean of the College and the new vice provost for student affairs working very, very closely as a partnership,” Dever said.
The new title will focus and intensify the student life mission outlined in the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” plan, Dever said.
Students should expect greater positive engagement in their daily lives as a result of this partnership, Dever said.
“All of this is to support the 24/7 Dartmouth student, in the sense that the academic enterprise will now be the living environment through the new house system and house professors,” Dever said. “The real mutuality between student affairs and academic affairs, that’s what this is designed to support.”
Dever added that she believes the College already has a strong student affairs operation, and focusing that operation and renaming it as “student affairs” will bring greater importance to that role.
She went on to say that bringing a faculty member to the role of dean will be an essential change to the academic experience.
Dever spoke highly of Ameer’s expertise, citing her 20 years of experience and her knowledgeable staff.
Associate dean of the College Elizabeth Agosto, who has worked with Ameer for five years on FYSEP and various projects in Parkhurst, spoke highly of Ameer.
“She’s kept us committed to student success and to the development of programs and initiatives and policies that allow all students to thrive on our campus,” Agosto said. “I think she’ll just continue doing that work as the vice provost for student affairs.”
