Michelle Green's Visit

The search for a permanent Dean of Student Services
Three candidates were brought to campus in February and March to meet with people from different areas of campus in an attempt for both the candidate and the members of campus to learn more about each other. Each candidate had an open meeting with students and another with staff and faculty.

The following notes were taken by Marissa Baker-Wagner (a student member of the search committee) on March 10, 2008 at the open meeting for students with Dean of Students Candidate interim Dean Michelle Green. These notes were an attempt to follow to the conversation, but are not a verbatim transcript. There are probably errors, there are definitely summaries, and there is also some switching around between first, second and third person on behalf of the writer. As such they are intended as supplementary source of information for individuals who would like to know more about what happened at the meeting. If you have questions about the material please feel free to contact mb06.

If you would like to fill out an online feedback form for this candidate or any other go here. If you are writing comments for a candidate that you did not meet in person please include that somewhere on your feedback form ("additional comments" is a good place). This link will be active until March 14th (extended deadline).

Open Meeting With Students
Open session with Dean of students candidate Michelle Green- students, staff and faculty Monday March 10, 2008 present~30 students, 5-10 staff/faculty

Jaime- intro

Michelle: questions on your mind?

faculty: security has been a big issue on college campuses across the country, Recently been mentioned that 5 colleges are reconsidering police and security. What do you think about campus security, the role of campus security, firearms? Comment on security in general, on firearms in particular.

M: Wish we lived in england, needn't need firearms. NSNS says no firearms, fake or real. wish there was a way to open campus but still limit access. the population on the campus needs to act appropriately, don't leave offices wide open, just asking for things to happen to you. if we want campus to stay as open as possible we have to take action

student: campus awareness, not just about campus security (Prescott silent alarms, etc). a lot of discomfort that students had no warning that those things were happening. your role in keeping students informed?

M; there are ways to disseminate things to students that admins don't use- posters. mostly just use critical announcements. prescott alarms shouldn't have happened that way, residents should've been informed. as for going forward, don't know if students recognize the voice they have. in recent student services position search, students input was heard. we do listen, doesn't necessarily mean that what you said is gonna get done.

students: what your plan for helping students recognize that voice. yours is the first voice to say that what happened in Prescott was wrong

M: i think it would be overwhelming give you feedback on everything (student shaking head). I see you shaking your head no? ok.

student: what qualified you for this job originally, other than being friends with Ralph Hexter?

M: that's not a qualification. one is being a good administrator, good at working with populations in transition, a DoS is also a customer services manager, lots of people have questions, I'm good at answering. very clear, the role that Ralph played is that he put my name in the hatso I could be considered.

student: so how has running the school like a corporation helped?

M: i don't know. tell me. some people say good, some say not

student: recent panel discussion last wednesday about Dakin takeover, how far we've come. students felt we haven't come very far

M: (explains Dakin takeover...) 2 or 3 things in particular that i plan to do 1- greater parallel between victims of sexual assault and racial assault then i had thought. what kinds of things can be done while still addressing the issue. not a unique problem among the five-colleges. maybe proposed committee should be across the five colleges. students see that there are other admins listening to them. also, critical mass of admins of color 2-not having woman of color on mental health staff- reach out to make that happen

student: is your pursuit of this position contingent on student support? would you feel comfortable accepting this position without student support?

michelle: pursuing the positiont b/c i currently have it, it would be nice to keep working in higher admin

student: would you accept the position with the full confidence of the student body?

m: i haven't thought about it. what does full confidence mean?

student: lets go with some feeling of broad confidence

m: define broad

student: not about whether we like you as a person, a bigger issue

m: not about liking. about dealing with people in a respectful manner

faculty: is there some other kind of training that youd like to see security get? philosophy seems to have changed over time. what do you see the role of security as?

m: ideally- more causal interaction. they're often so fraught with danger or stress, there have been casual meetings, may need to be more knowledge about students in general

student: if you've had so much involvement with corp level admin, then moving into position of DoS and see yourself as customer students, should school be run as center for progressive education or as a corp. what kind of training have you gone through since accepting this position- ie anti racism training? what qualifications and training have you gone through for this job?

M: none, since i've been at this job. but in my life i have classism training, rinku sen, damali ayo conference inclusive or exhasutive no? the idea that there is one training that can do it all is a flawed assumption

student: been a leader in improving campus security, student life, but i also see that its very unclear what the trust levels are from students towards you. how do you as an admin feel responsibility to gauge trust levels, especially to students of color and international students

m: it never occurred to me that i would be perceived as untrustworthy, so i never tried to gauge it. unless i did something to hurt somebody. many people presume malice of forethought but not innocence. trust is very difficult to regain once lost. how does a candidate (ie politician) gain trust of people. one on one interactions allow us to gauge each other, very difficult with 1300 people.

student: do you think that yous should be held accountable to students? if so how do you propose that the voices of students have been heard? because institutions in place haven't worked student: it is one of your strengths to talk one on one, but not feasible on a campus of 1300. hard in this job, but it needs to be a top priority. better way to reach students and continually make yourself more available.

m: maybe i should have a column in the climax or something about whats going on in student services, or about risk management. i'm listening to peoples suggestions

student: yeah, students know that there are channels for people to talk to you, but these voices are unheard or silent- theres no trust. its weird for you to hear, but theres not trust between students and admin

m: tell me about what trust means...

(try to refocus on Q and A)

student: email about HALA, info on professors, their homes, maybe something about bombs. that got through to daily digest. someone under you filters that. how did that get through. now hamp students can't take classes with those profs. real threat seen by many people and this info got out through hamp announcement system

m: the announcement that i saw did make statements about umass faculty. there are no rules now that would've stopped that. the fact that it went through in hindsight- i wish it hadn't. the ethos at hampshire is for less restrictions in speech then more. as for hala conference- i went to every scheduled event. maybe students didn't take about bombs b/c they know me. i'm presuming innocence in others as i hope they would in me. we know have some track record in that.

stu: its that it was in this context of a threat

m: we don't want to use the announcements for threats

stu: i'm wondering if a hate crime occurs within the five colleges what steps would you take to address it to the community, if students filed a report at another campus. what steps would you take? how do you feel that your involvement would be different (something happend at amherst...)

m: we talked to amherst and they said that they would take appropriate steps

student: would you wait for students to come to you, or would you reach out and provide resources

m: the ethos i see is that students don't want me reaching out, but that may be seen as neglect

student: how else would it be understood

m: what i'm understanding is that groups that i'm not directly involved with are neglected, but that this is a special situation.

stu: yes. different if groups just want to have tea, but that marginalized students should feel...

m: warmth?

stu: no, accountability.

m: how?

stu: talk to me. once.

stu: how do you balance student wants and student needs?

m: here student wants are student needs. there is very little that i have done that feels the least bit discretionary

student: your position now is very different from the other two candidates, you're looking for reappointment, not a new job. students need to be addressed. i can think of an instance in which students were addressed in a very negative way. a student of color was kicked off, prior to that was googled.

m: i'm not willing to talk about that. students come to me who need discipline or have academic issues, or something has happened. nobody can know what happened in those specific situations.

student: in the best interest if the community or the institution?

m: neither, the student

stu: can we have a list of things that you will do?

m: i don't think that i can do that

stu: why not?

m: i'm already working on the assumption that i'm doing the best i can. i'm not waiting to see if i'm reappointed to do things. maybe i need to make student contact a higher priority

stu: so what have you done this year?

m: the past two years?

stu: yeah

m: i'm excited about the pavilion going up, completing the tavern, finding a donor into Jewish life for a kosher kitchen (also got to upgrade merrill and dakin kitchens), pleased about getting to higher a parent services person, josiah litant getting to do more, have orientation be more than a little block. having some seminars through corc about credit cards and personal financing (didn't seem exciting to others, didn't push it)

stu: do you feel that your position should be open to any kind of community oversight?

m: i am

student: how?

m: sometimes people have email campaigns about what i have or haven't done, things like this, last week.

stu: i mean structuralized oversight procedure.

m: what does that mean, specific example?

stu: NY community oversight- extreme example (dealing with police brutality) but for students how would there be some kind of review of policy before it goes into effect instead of it going on for years and years

m: i would say send a letter to me and ralph. but from (another students) example do you mean about discipline?

stu: about students coming to DoSS, feeling confident

m: so much of the campus does not want structure, wants less structure, you could bring the idea to ralph to the board or the cabinet. struggling b/c so much of my job does deal with students. people would have to know specifics around students which would be very difficult. policies would be easier

student: how would you envision that

m: i can imagine it existing but would not want it to

stu: i've heard a lot of references from admin about a lack of resources at the schools resources, (used in reference to needs of students of color...) but there are signs on campus that cost millions of dollars, model of Veridian Village on campus. these projects that money has been diverted too- while you are not directly in charge of those. how do you hole those other people accountable to the needs of the students for which you are responsible.

m: part of that is figuring out what are we getting from this. wasn't around for the signs. VV is a money maker for us, not a money loser, the money making doesn't start happening until we have people living their and paying fees. no loss of revenue. another thing is the continual struggle every year figuring out what to spend the little money we have. how we make sure that the $ we're spending goes as far as possible. the cabinet gets to review other budgets, so we can challenge each other. all depends on the particular situation

stu: things you've done, students lacking social spaces. i work in Cultural Center, we expressed our need for safe spaces. we still don't have admin and financial support for these spaces for students who feel very unsafe. these spaces operate as offices but get some funding as student groups. why don't we direct funding for already existing safe spaces with expressed need instead of for pavilion?

m; what are all of the spaces that student services controls? not womens center or Cultural center. resources are tight enough there was no $ for womens center position, orientation activities. money was diverted bc budget was put to bed at that point. very much fighting to keep the resources that we have

stu: at cultural center, not enough resources, we're over worked new intern every year who has to learn stuff. having trouble catering to the community. can't get funding from SOURCE groups because they werent recognized. is that a concern to you. what would you do if you were DoSS next year?

m: of course it is. if melissa and the students that work with melissa have specific concerns we can mash them up with other things. i don't expect to get more, they're telling us there is no money. does the intern have to change every year?

student: in your role in DoSS you are at the top of student services, which i like to believe is for student support. you can't speak to specifics of academics and discipline...when students aren't being heard, how do you support students. what do you see as your role when students contact you. students have felt rejected...

m: reach out to people in other departments and try to figure out why student is getting the response that they're getting. disturbing when it hasn't been explained to students why they're getting the answer they did. i've never said don't talk to me b/c thats not my job

student: clarifying student voice to other dept?

m: same thing. why. did you have discretion

student: have you been effective

m: about 25% of the time. other times its not their discretion

student: what do you plan on doing about the other 75% if you become appointed

m: i'm inferring that you are saying that students are always right

student: no..even another 25%?

m: would work on it

[out of time]

Other Candidates

 * Dawn Ellinwood
 * Linda Reimer

back to 2007-2008 Dean of Students Search