The vice provost of student affairs position, which current interim Dean of the College Inge-Lise Ameer will assume in July, was created to produce increased oversight of student life on campus and streamline administrative positions, Provost Carolyn Dever said. Similar positions exist at other institutions, both Dever and president of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Kevin Kruger said.
This is only a change of name for Ameer, Dever added, rather than an entirely new position.
“Its not actually a change of job, it’s a change of title and a focusing of responsibilities on something that is critically important to Dartmouth,” Dever said.
Dever said she conferred with both College President Phil Hanlon and the Board of Trustees about the restructuring, adding that administrators have been considering creating this position since last July.
She said that she wanted to create a position that was solely concerned with student wellness, student safety, student development and other co-curricular components of a Dartmouth education.
“One thing that I decided to tackle as soon as I started at Dartmouth last summer was reshaping that job so that it was doable and really focused on student affairs,” she said.
She said that the move is not an expansion of the administration, but rather a different approach to leadership responsibilities.
In addition to moving student life away from the Dean of the College, there have been other structural changes. The pre-health advising program, which supports more than 1,000 students, will move from the Dean of the College’s office to the Dean of the faculty’s office, a shift which program leader and Geisel School of Medicine professor Lee Witters said reflects the program’s academic mission.
Dever said that she wanted to wait until she had a better sense of what “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy would entail in order to produce a strong and focused student affairs division to support its goals.
While evaluating the creation of the new position, administrators visited a number of college campuses, like Princeton and Vanderbilt Universities, that have similar positions in their administration.
At Vanderbilt, for example, associate provost and dean of students Mark Bandas oversees the offices of student activities and events, health and wellness and student conduct and academic integrity, among others.
Princeton University also has a dean of undergraduate students, but this position is focused both on student wellness and academic life.
“We looked at the structures of peer institutions and ultimately decided to create this position focused on student affairs,” Dever said.
Kruger said that 90 percent of institutions of higher education have a position similar to that of the newly created vice provost position that provides leadership in a wide range of areas and covers student experiences outside of the classroom.
“This position can coordinate a whole range of programs and initiatives under one roof, which can really maximize the way we work with students,” Kruger said.
He said that it is not unusual that this position has just recently been created at the College, as historically Ivy League institutions have not always had the same infrastructure in their administration as other schools.
“As college presidents realize these issues are very complex and the institution has a lot of liability managing them, I think having a profession level vice provost for student affairs begins to make a lot of sense,” Kruger said.
Ameer will hold this position for four years, Dever said, with annual reviews and a process at the end for evaluation and renewal, if it is mutually desirable at that time.
Dever said that a faculty member will become Dean of the College with the responsibility of leading undergraduate development and academics. In recent history, there has not been a faculty member appointed as Dean. The faulty, however, has expressed interested in playing an active leadership role in the College’s administration, Dever added.
English professor Thomas Luxon said that the Dean of the College position has never been redefined in this way.
“To turn it back to a faculty position is bold and it could turn into anything,” he said, though adding that “on the whole it’s a positive thing.”
Dever said that the new Dean will play a key role in developing the new residential housing system, expanding student advising and creating an inclusive experience for a diverse student body.
“A strong faculty voice in all of those discussions is critically important,” she said.
Ameer said that departments of student affairs are major parts of many institutions of higher education, and she said she is glad that the College is labeling the position in this way.
“I’m excited to see... that student support services of all kinds, including residential life, campus life [and] student accessibility services, are under that one umbrella,” she said.
She said she is eager to have a faculty partner to work with in all of these offices and projects.
Women’s and gender studies professor Michael Bronski said that the restructuring “makes complete sense,” adding that Ameer is well-suited for the role.
“The Dean of the College has been too much for one job for too long,” he said.
Ameer said she does not anticipate any major changes in her day-to-day responsibilities, as the Dean of the College began reporting to the Provost before she arrived to assume the role as Interim Dean of the College.
“What I do see changing is a more collaborative approach with a faculty member being the Dean of the College who can work with me and the Provost in advocating for undergraduates in all realms,” she added.
She said that students have been an essential part of all of the projects she has worked on since arriving at the College, such as the First-Year Scholarship Enrichment Program, peer advising programs and Kings Scholars, and she hopes to continue working on these initiatives.
She added that the emphasis on undergraduates at Dartmouth has given her the opportunity to focus on resources for students, and this is a key reason for taking on the new position.
“I’m looking forward to working with the new Dean of the College on ways to integrate the faculty more into the services and the functions that we provide to students,” Ameer said.
Max Gibson contributed reporting.
