Division of Student Affairs
Report to Faculty Senate
UNC Asheville, September 13, 2006
Submitted by Bill Haggard, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

Highlights of Accomplishments and New Initiatives

2006-2007:

• Former Housing and Residence Life Department was reshaped into two departments, Residential Education and Housing Operations to enhance residential learning programs and operational services.
• Formerly separate units, Highsmith Union and Student Activities and Integrative Learning (SAIL) have been combined into one administrative unit to better integrate programs and services and to make best use of resources.
• Counseling and Health Services have been combined into one department, Student Health and Counseling, to implement an integrated care paradigm which increases accessibility, provides a higher quality of care, and links health education, mental health and medical services. 
• Live-in professional positions were renamed from Residence Life Coordinators to Community Directors to reflect the true nature of their responsibility for community development, residential learning opportunities, and citizenship education.
• Community Director offices were moved from the central office in Governors Hall to the respective residence hall served by each Director.
• Revised and improved crisis management protocols for response to student emergencies.
• Integrated Dining Services into UNC Asheville student life through the involvement of dining staff members in Student Affairs staff meetings and through the re-establishment of an active Dining Advisory Committee.  Lifestyle Dining in the Dining Hall received very positive reviews from students.
• Established a Professional Development Committee for the Division of Student Affairs which planned and implemented over twenty programs and activities during the academic year.
• Participated in the housekeeping study which resulted in two new positions in Housing Operations and one new position in Highsmith Union.  Some housekeepers in each unit were reclassified to general utility worker.
• A committee of students, faculty and staff reframed and rewrote the former Code of Student Conduct and developed a new Student Code of Community Standards with a greater emphasis on responsibility to the community and enhanced due process procedures.
• Mills Hall was renovated during the summer of 2007 to improve indoor air quality, replace carpet, paint, renovate bathrooms, enlarge staff apartment, and build a community kitchen.  Feedback from students has been very positive.
• A new commuter lounge was opened in Highsmith Union offering lockers, microwave, computers, television, and lounge space for commuting students.
• Highsmith Union acquired five pieces of permanent art created by students, faculty or alumni.
• Advisory Committees were formed for Health and Counseling, Highsmith Union, Campus Recreation and Dining Services to increase feedback for quality enhancement.
• Evening and weekend extracurricular programming was expanded to increase opportunities for student engagement in campus life.
• There was an increase in the number and variety of group fitness classes offered.
• One hundred ten first-year students participated in the Wilderness Experience and Fusion programs, pre-orientation programs designed to engage students with each other, staff, faculty, the community and surrounding region.
• Collaborated with student leaders to develop a Student Environmental Center, located in Highsmith Union, which will have its grand opening in September.

Priorities for 2007-2008:

• In light of the Virginia Tech tragedy, review and evaluate all campus safety protocols and practices.
• Begin divisional strategic planning process that connects the work of the division to the University strategic plan.
• Develop a student affairs facility master plan to include planning for design and building of additional on-campus residences and improving facilities which support Student Health and Counseling and Campus Recreation.
• Continue to increase staff participation in regional and national conferences and other professional development opportunities.
• Development of specific learning outcomes and assessment plans for all student affairs units.
• Development of a residential education curriculum.
• Continue development of a comprehensive Citizenship Education program through examination of current procedures for the handling of cases of academic dishonesty.
• Develop new and innovative methods of identifying and reaching out to students who may be struggling academically, socially or personally to better deliver campus services to reduce attrition.
• Hire new Administrative Director of Health and Counseling.
• Hire new Assistant Director of Evening and Weekend Programming.
• Continue to foster the development of the Student Environmental Center.

Budget

Total funds to support student affairs programs and services equal approximately $9,500,000.  Of that amount, approximately 4.8% is allocated from state funds.  The remaining revenues are raised through student fees including Student Activity Fee, Health Fee, Housing Fee, and Dining Fee.  Largest expenditures include debt service on residence halls and one parking garage, utilities, dining contractor, and staff salaries and benefits.  The current cap on fee increases is 6.5% which makes it difficult to improve facilities, programs and services after inflation and salary increases.

Highlights of Diversity Initiatives

2006-2007:

• Collaborated with Advising and Learning Support to jointly administer the SOAR program which resulted in twelve students successfully completing the program and continuing to their first year at UNC Asheville.
• Student Activities and Integrative Learning planned and implemented the “A Day On, Not a Day Off” service project on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.  Thirty-five students participated in a Service Project at the Pisgah View Housing Complex.  This event opened the door to additional partnerships with the Asheville Housing Authority.
• Coordinated the first UNC Asheville Step Show which attracted African-American fraternities and sororities from the southeast to our campus for an evening of stepping and fun.
• Contributed staff time and financial resources to the “State of Black Asheville” event.
• Facilitated the gathering of African-American faculty and staff to discuss plans for a mentoring program for first-year under-represented students.
• HOLA (Hispanic Outreach for Learning Awareness), our student organization for Hispanic/Latina students, experienced a year of growth in membership, participation, and number of programs.
• Two new African-American Community Directors have been hired in Residential Education.  Three of the five live-in professionals in our residence halls are now African-Americans.
• A vacant counselor position was reshaped into a Counselor/Coordinator of Clinical Multicultural Services position to enhance outreach to diverse populations and coordinate services targeted at under-represented populations.

Priorities for 2007-2008:

• Hire Counselor/Coordinator of Clinical Multicultural Services.
• Continue to develop new search strategies to increase the diversity of candidate pools.
• Through the divisional planning process, develop departmental accountability for diversity initiatives.
• Complete the establishment of a mentoring program for first-year students who are members of under-represented populations.
• Deliver on recommendations in the recent diversity study.
• Continue to expand extracurricular activities designed to support a cultural presence for under-represented student populations.
• Collaborate with the Admissions Office on special programs and strategies to attract a more diverse pool of applicants.