The University will welcome a new addition to its administration at the end of January.
Rick Johnson, currently the director of housing and dining services at Virginia Tech, has been chosen to fill the newly created position of assistant vice president of housing and dining. Johnson will assume his position Jan. 31, administrators announced Wednesday.
Johnson will join the administration after serving in his current position at Virginia Tech for 15 years. Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, who led the search to fill the position, said he will seek Johnson’s input on the current dining changes being discussed, which includes the “contemporization” of board plans, managing dining operations as a whole and managing the current Dining deficit.
The Office of Student Affairs underwent significant restructuring last year following the dissolution of Department of Campus Services. Student Affairs assumed oversight of Dining Services and Event Management last year, which almost doubled its budget.
“When [Eddie] Hull left as the executive director of housing, there were inklings of internal changes that might happen at Duke, so I intentionally left that position vacant for quite some time,” Moneta said. “[Johnson’s position] was predicated on the belief that dining is a critical part of the student residential experience... and one of its core responsibilities is to ensure that the student dining experience is complementary to the student residential experience.”
The search for a candidate to fill the new position began three months ago, Moneta said. Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst, a member of the panel that interviewed Johnson, said that of the final seven candidates, Johnson’s prior experience with both housing and dining made him the most desirable applicant for the job.
“Rick has had success in both arenas and has been well recognized in the industry,” Wulforst noted. “That’s what made him stand out—that was probably most important to everybody that interviewed him. He’s clearly passionate about what he could bring to the table, and he’s got a history of success at Virginia Tech, that’s unquestionable.”
Indeed, Moneta said he had heard of Johnson’s successful reputation prior to the interview process and had contacted Johnson to inform him of the position’s availability, encouraging him to apply.
“I had not met him before this process, but his name came up numerous times from colleagues as I asked, ‘Who are the best people [for the job] in the United States?’” Moneta said. “It was remarkable how often people responded, ‘Have you talked to Rick Johnson?’”
Despite Moneta’s optimism for Johnson’s future success, both he and Johnson noted that the position will present difficulties.
“It’s a brand new position and a brand new challenge,” Johnson said in a press-release. “Grouping these units together is the perfect combination to serve students well. There are great synergies among these areas that we can use to everyone’s advantage.”
Moneta noted that the magnitude of the issues Johnson will face is going to be the most difficult aspect of his job.
“He’s going to inherit the complexities that I’ve come to appreciate: what it’s like to have 41 different dining venues, 200,000 square feet of housing facilities with some considerable maintenance needs in both operations, a budget deficit in the dining operation... [and] how to bring green thinking into both operations,” Moneta said. “All of those things will be challenges, but every challenge is an opportunity.”
Campus Council Programming Chair Betsy Klein, a junior who also sat on the interview panel, said she is interested in how Johnson will solve housing issues on campus. Klein said she liked his commitment to incorporating student opinions into his future plans.
“I hope to see Rick focus on the major residential issues of deferred maintenance in Craven and Crowell quads as well as improvements to Central Campus,” she wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. “There will be a lot of challenges with the new house model that will require his creativity. I could tell that he cares a lot about the student voice, and I think he will take our opinions into account for every major decision he makes as our new AVP.”
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