UM Dean of Students, Sparky Reardon
This is the final story in a series on the Division of Student Affairs, which was reorganized July 1 to include four branches: the University Police Department, Wellness and Student Success, Enrollment Management and the Office of the Dean of Students. Read the first and second stories
As part of the recent reorganization of Student Affairs, the Office of the Dean of Students is exploring new methods to support student leadership at the university.
The restructuring, which became effective July 1, charged UM administrators with continued leadership in key areas including student government and Greek affairs; volunteer services and multicultural affairs; and student organizations and leadership development.
“Our campus is excellent at developing leaders, but we’re doing it in lots of different pockets and we’re doing it for lots of different specific audiences,” said Brandi Hephner LaBanc , vice chancellor for student affairs. “I wanted someone to work on leadership development with all of our student organizations and offer general leadership development opportunities for students.”
The restructuring separated Student Affairs areas into “communities of practice” built around the Dean of Students, Wellness and Student Success, and Enrollment Management. Under the leadership of Sparky Reardon, the Dean of Students Community of Practice includes the Office of the Dean of Students, Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct, and the Ole Miss Student Union.
The Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Office also was separated from the Office of the Dean of Students during the reorganization, though it remains under the Dean of Students Community of Practice umbrella.
“The office being an independent entity sends a different message for objectivity when it comes to conduct situations,” Hephner LaBanc said. “For instance, if a conduct issue came out of a student organization, it was the same office adjudicating it. It wasn’t that anything was wrong; from an outside perspective, it just gives a different sense of autonomy, objectivity and credibility to those professionals.”
Focusing on leadership development among students who are not involved in the Greek system or student government was a priority in the restructuring.
“We’re doing our best to put together opportunities for student organizations stressing leadership since that’s very much a part of the University of Mississippi,” Reardon said. “Many students come to the university having had leadership experience, and we want to provide opportunities for them to carry on with that. Some come from places where they’ve never had leadership opportunities.”
As part of the initiative, Coulter Ward, assistant dean of students for student organizations, has spent the fall semester creating a leadership plan and examining best practices at universities across the country. While there’s more programming on the horizon, the office will host a two-day sophomore leadership workshop, called Pulse, in January.
Ward said he hopes students will realize that whether they’d like to be more involved in their academic departments or begin attending more events on or off campus, the Office of the Dean of Students will help identify those opportunities.
“We have a lot of great students,” Ward said. “I want them all to have a resource to get them plugged into their niche and their passions. We want to provide resources for the general student and we want them to know that there’s one central place to find how to get involved, whatever that might mean for the student.”
For more information about the Office of the Dean of Students at UM, visit http://dos.orgsync.com.