The reorganization of the Division of Auxiliary Services emphasizes the strengthening of ties among dining services, Duke University Stores and the Division of Student Affairs. And this week, administrators from both auxiliaries and student affairs expressed hope that they would work together more closely while affirming what they call already long-standing relationships.
In addition to extending cooperation among the various offices, the reorganization will move two auxiliaries units to Student Affairs. Event Management, which is now jointly administered by the two, will move almost completely under Student Affairs, and the off-campus housing office, which mainly caters to graduate and professional students, will follow suit.
"We've spent a lot of time trying to empower Student Affairs to do something," said Executive Vice President Tallman Trask, noting the Board of Trustees' decision last year to give Student Affairs control of all student space on campus. "There's been a lot of 'us versus them' that I'm trying to get rid of."
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, said he did not envision much of a change in the future relationship between Student Affairs and Auxiliary Services because he said they currently interact well.
"I talk to [outgoing associate vice president for auxiliary services] Joe Pietrantoni on a regular basis," said Moneta, who controlled dining and athletics when he was associate vice president for campus services at the University of Pennsylvania. "I talk to [Director of Parking and Transportation] Cathy Reeve on parking and transportation. Although they're going to a new campus services unit, my expectation is that we will have as good a relationship as we do now. We've always been close on dining issues."
As Moneta's proposal for renovating and adding West Campus student space--culminating in what he has called the Student Village--progresses into planning stages, the relationships between Student Affairs and dining and stores will become especially vital. Moneta noted that many of the occupants of the student village are linked to Auxiliary Services, such as The Great Hall, other food vendors in the West Union Building and the Bryan Center, the bookstore, the computer store and even the post office.
"They are critical partners from the get-go. They are represented on the committee for the village project," Moneta said.
Paul Davies, currently financial director of Auxiliary Services, said he looked forward to working with Student Affairs in the future as he prepares to assume responsibility this summer for a pared-back core of Auxiliary Services, including food services, postal operations, stores and the transactional operations of the DukeCard office.
"They'll have a major impact on what we do in a positive way," Davies said. "We look at ourselves as the facilitators, and we make things happen [for them]."
Jim Wulforst, director of dining services, echoed that philosophy.
"[Dining's role in the village is] really up in the air, but everything I've done in the six years I've been here has been engineered to student input and to what students think is appropriate," he said.
Trask announced last month to administrators his plan to reorganize elements such as parking and transportation, facilities management and campus security under a new Campus Services unit; move some aspects of the DukeCard office and publishing to Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Tracy Futhey; and keep a core unit of auxiliaries under Davies.
Yet, as Moneta consolidates control over all student space on West Campus, the bulk of Event Management will shift toward Student Affairs.
"We already have a strong relationship with event advising," Moneta said. "This is just a minor change to sort of move it fully into Student Affairs. Ninety-nine percent of what [event advising does is] related to what students do."
Linda Moiseenko, the program coordinator for special events and conference services who also runs the off-campus housing office, said she did not know why her office was in Auxiliary Services in the first place.
"Why I ended up where I did, I'm not sure," she said. "It certainly didn't inhibit resources getting developed or anything like that. Moving over to Student Affairs makes sense. I don't see it as something that shouldn't occur."
Moiseenko said her office's duties will remain geared toward helping graduate and professional students look for off-campus housing. Her office provides information services to students, including a map of local Durham neighborhoods.
In summer 2001, Housing Management moved to Student Affairs from Auxiliary Services, a move that not only quadrupled Student Affairs' budget, but also helped form a more integrated housing services office, now consolidated under new Director of Residence Life and Housing Services Eddie Hull.
"We haven't got all the tough spots ironed out yet, but we will," said Fidelia Thomason, director of housing management. "But housing management has always worked very closely with [Student Affairs]."
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