Less than five months after Sue Wasiolek left her post in the Office of Student Development, her co-manager has also announced that she will be leaving the University to pursue another career.
Karen Steinour, dean of students, will step down from her post on Feb. 17. A licensed psychologist, Steinour has accepted a position in the hospital at the federal correctional institution at Butner. Steinour said she had been discussing the possibility of practicing psychology for a number of months.
"I will really miss interacting with students, and I will cherish this opportunity as I move in a new direction," Steinour said.
Colleagues said the office will not be the same. "We will definitely miss her expertise and her intellect, but the physical loss will be felt as well," said Paul Bumbalough, associate dean of students.
Bumbalough said Steinour is eager to pursue her new career. "It is tough for her to be able to communicate her excitement for her new job without it seeming like a slight to the University community, but she will miss her position here," Bumbalough said.
Steinour first came to the University in 1982, taking a position in the Office of Residential Life. She left for three years in the mid-1980s to complete a psychology internship at West Point and returned to Duke's Office of Residential Life in 1989.
Steinour said she wanted to postpone her departure until the Office of Student Development had settled from a number of large projects, including a summer move to the Crowell Building on East Campus from the Flowers Building on West and implementation of President Nan Keohane's new residential plan.
Steinour is currently chair of the Housing Assignment Committee, a group of administrators and students that has been meeting daily to work out the logistics of Keohane's plan. However, Steinour and others said that her absence will not infringe on the HAC's ability to carry out its goals.
"Most of us on the committee have worked with [Steinour] throughout the process, and we share the same ideas as her," said Trinity junior Peggy Cross, Duke Student Government executive vice president and a HAC member. "We're not really losing her because all of her thoughts and ideas are still going to be used."
Most of the HAC's planning has been outlined or completed at this point, said Janet Dickerson, vice president for student affairs. In addition, the administrative presence of Bill Burig, assistant dean of student development and another HAC member, should soften the impact of Steinour's departure, Dickerson said.
Meanwhile, the five deans remaining in the Office of Student Development will be picking up the administrative overload until the University replaces Steinour and Wasiolek. The Office of Student Development is due to submit a proposal to Dickerson on how to recast responsibilities later this week.
"We're looking at a number of things that we need to keep doing, but I would guess that some individual projects may need to be put on the back burner," Bumbalough said.
A national search for a single person to replace Steinour and Wasiolek is slated to begin sometime this spring, Dickerson said.
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