After a wholesale reorganization that left five former student advisors jobless, four new hires in the Office of Student Activities and Facilities are scrambling to navigate University red tape and guide students to do the same.
After a wholesale reorganization that left five former student advisors jobless, four new hires in the Office of Student Activities and Facilities are scrambling to navigate University red tape and guide students to do the same.
When school began, the Office had only two staff members to help student groups plan the slew of events that mark orientation week, and one of the staff members arrived only weeks before the opening of dorms. The unacclimated advisors stalled event registration slightly, student leaders said, but most programming proceeded on time.
“I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t been difficult,” said senior Kevin Parker, president of Duke University Union. “In general this is going to be a hard year, just getting everyone else acquainted.”
Due to a Duke payroll requirement, the new staff members could only start work at the beginning of a month and could not move into their positions before students arrived. The gap between the start of school and the beginning of a payroll period left OSAF clambering to accommodate students.
“It would’ve been nice to have a couple of days under our belt, but it’s not too big a deal,” said Brian Crews, one of several new program coordinators. “They’re doing some training, but we’re jumping right in. School’s already in session, and there’s stuff that needs to be done.”
Crews, along with fellow advisors Deborah Hackney and Marissa Weiss, arrived at Duke last Wednesday. Tari Hunter, also an advisor, arrived Aug. 1.
Student leaders said the new staff’s inexperience with Duke’s procedures is somewhat frustrating but has not been a major problem. “I had to figure out new contact people and ask a few more questions than I normally would have,” said senior Aileen Shiue, president of the Asian Student Association.
Groups also bemoaned the loss of institutional memory. Several of the staff members who were forced out to make room for the new advisors had been at Duke for more than a decade, and their personal knowledge offered continuity and historical context to groups whose leadership changes every year.
The changes to OSAF were part of a sweeping plan from the Office of Student Affairs to improve University support for student groups. Long-time members of the Student Affairs staff said they were prepared for the structural reorganization itself, but the associated firings were a startling surprise.
“I did not know that they were going to lay off the six people that were there and make us re-apply for our positions,” said Rick Gardner, former event advising coordinator.
Of the original staff, only Melinda Roper, now senior associate director for student activities, was re-hired. The other five administrators were ousted in mid-July.
“I was told that they were going to go in a different direction and my services weren’t needed,” Gardner said, acknowledging that the University handled the situation “very professionally.”
Student advisors Peter Coyle and Brian Denton declined to comment, but both said Tuesday night that they were still searching for work. Gregg Heinselman, director of OSAF, said the other two former OSAF advisors had already begun new jobs.
“It’s hard, and I think that each has their own feelings,” said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. “But it’s certainly our attempt to be supportive and provide whatever help we can.”
The new staff members, all of whom hold master’s degrees related to student affairs, are the foundation for Heinselman’s plans to reimagine the philosophy of OSAF.
Since Heinselman arrived at the University last October, he has been refining what he called the “archaic system” of support to empower students in planning their own events.
He said when a group came into the OSAF office to put on an event in the past, staff members often took on many of the organizational tasks themselves rather than showing students how to maneuver through the institutional bureaucracy.
“I felt like we were serving more as an entertainment agent,” he said. “It came to a question of who has the ownership. Does OSAF own it, or does the student club or organization own it? Our philosophy is that the group should.”
The new advising system, which is still being developed, will force students to pursue more of the event details themselves and relegate OSAF to a resource bank.
Even though five staff positions in the restructuring have now been filled, one senior program director position remains vacant. Heinselman said some programs, such as the Krista Cipriano Craft Center on East Campus, will remain closed until OSAF hires someone with suitable expertise.
“We had our speed bumps and hurdles in the road that we needed to get over,” Heinselman said, “but it went okay.”
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