With the start of a new school year, the University of Wisconsin’s Office of the Dean of Students changing their name to the Division of Student Life and a freshly re-designed website, it may seem like a lot of things are changing around campus.
According to Dean of Students Lori Berquam, however, the change in the office name only accentuates one thing that never changes: focus on the students.
Speculation into changing the name began last year, and after consultations with students, faculty, advisory boards, staff, and one particularly pointed Twitter poll, the name change was given a thumbs up all around.
“With a name like the Office of the Dean of Students, everyone thought the office was all about me, not the other eight departments in our division,” Berquam said. “The new name encompasses everyone and gives us the opportunity to recognize the other departments in students’ successes.”
Berquam also said she believes the new name fits better with their mission as an office because it identifies the departments in totality and is inclusive to all aspects of students’ experiences.
“The new name encompasses and advertises all of student life. It reinforces the fact that we are far more than just a dean’s office,” Berquam said.
In addition to the new name, the redesigned website focuses on students by highlighting student lives and experiences.
“The website renews our commitment to who we are, what we stand for and what we believe,” said Berquam. “We really try and ask our students what their legacy is going to be.”
The Division of Student Life consists of eight departments, all of which share common objectives. Berquam’s assistant Kelly Ocasio wrote in an e-mail to The Badger Herald these objectives are inclusivity, citizenship and learning and self discovery.
Among the departments are the Multicultural Student Center and the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center, both of which have new interim directors as of this academic year, Ocasio said.
Donte Hilliard has taken over at MSC while Robin Matthies has done so at LGBT CC. Ocasio said former MSC director Candace McDowell retired, and former LGBT CC director Eric Trekell moved.
