Restructuring will leave Dean of Students Office intact

Jen Dixon News Editor

Contrary to a statement made at Feb. 24's Town Meeting, the Dean of Students Office and current Dean D.B. Brown will remain at Vassar next year. Dean of the College J.J. Jackson spent the bulk of that meeting attempting to clarify her proposed reorganization of the the Dean of the College division.

In order to explain the numerous offices that her position oversees, Jackson showed those present a chart of a potential cleaned up arrangement. When questioned by a student as to where the Dean of Students Office was situated, Jackson said, “it's not there.”

Although Brown did not attend the meeting, at the time of Jackson's anouncement he had been told that his position would not exist starting in 2005-2006. “I have since been told that as of now it's on the chart,” said Brown of his current situation. Jackson's proposed changes remain under discussion. “I really think that the Dean of the College's thinking is really evolving,” said Brown.

Jackson confirmed Brown’s description of her office’s reorganization as a work in progress.

“Our conversations continue and it's a dynamic process that has looked at every office in the Dean of the College division, including that of the Dean of Students. The position of Dean of Students will remain, and we will continue our discussions about what offices may fall under it,” said Jackson.

According to Brown, the much discussed restructuring will not be doing away with offices, instead cleaning up which offices answer to who.

Currently, Brown’s position oversees and coordinates the activities of the Office of Residential Life including the many students and employees who oversee the residence halls, the Counseling Service, Health Services, and Disability and Support Services.

On the Office of the Dean of Students website, Brown’s job description reads, “The dean meets collectively and individually with the directors of the offices reporting to him...A substantial portion of his time is spent dealing with a wide variety of problems, concerns, and emergencies brought to his attention by students, their families, faculty, and other administrators.”

“The discussions that folks in my area and I have been having about the structure of the Dean of the College Office have been geared toward providing the very best service that we can for students,” said Jackson. “Our conversations continue and it's a dynamic process that has looked at every office in the DoC division, including that of the Dean of Students.”

The version of the restructuring chart that noticeably left out the Dean of the Students Office is now, according to Jackson, extremely outdated, as her office has moved on in its discussions. More up-to-date charts will be released in order to gather student input.