2018 marks my third year as the vice chancellor for the Division of Student Affairs, and I have recently been reflecting on how much our division, and campus, has changed during this time.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Christina Gonzales
We know that our students’ needs are changing, and that this generation of students has different characteristics and demographics than previous generations. With campus initiatives like Academic Futures, Financial Futures, Foundations of Excellence and more, I am proud of how our campus community is continually reassessing not only how we can survive but thrive in the future. It’s encouraging to be a part of these great conversations and see the ideas coming from these initiatives to help us better support and serve our students.
One of the most positive things I’ve observed in the last three years is an increase in new partnerships and collaboration not only across the Division of Student Affairs but across the university. Some of these include:
- Women’s Leadership Symposium: This past year saw the inaugural Women’s Leadership Symposium, a successful collaboration with many campus partners. Before last year, there wasn’t an event like this on campus before. It’s inspiring to see members of our campus community recognize a need for a leadership symposium of this nature and taking action to meet that need. Right now, proposals for the 2019 Women’s Leadership Symposium are being accepted through Dec. 3, 2018.
- Honor Code: Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution (SCCR) worked closely with the Boulder Faculty Assembly and students to change Honor Code procedures in an effort to create a more streamlined and timely process. This was a true collaboration among campus community members, and created a new model to ensure students have a timely resolution to their infractions and that faculty receive updates throughout the process.
- Student Engagement Response Team (SERT): This team was established to support students’ awareness of campus policies, impacts to CU’s academic mission and the Student Code of Conduct when they have an event that may fall under descriptors such as demonstrations, protests or rallies. There aren’t that many universities with a team like this in place, and I’m glad we can be a leader in this aspect.
We are currently in the second year of our three-year strategic plan for the Division of Student Affairs, and already there is so much data we can learn from and improve on. I look forward to maintaining our collaborations and establishing new partnerships as we continue to move forward.
Christina Gonzales
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
