Vice President E. Royster Harper has announced the members of a search advisory committee to replace Susan Eklund, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students.
Eklund announced her retirement last fall after 32 years of serving students at the University.
Donica Thomas Varner, assistant general counsel, chairs the 12-member search committee.
Other members of the search advisory committee include:
• Mohammad Dar, undergraduate LSA, student body president and 2007 executive director, Association of Big Ten Students;
• Daniil Gunitskiy, student, undergraduate LSA;
• J. Ann Hower, director, Office of New Student Programs;
• J. Gregory Merritt, director, Residential Education University Housing;
• Esrold Nurse, assistant dean, Student Academic Affairs, LSA;
• Darlene Ray-Johnson, director, Graduate Student Affairs, Office of Academic Programs and Student Life, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies;
• Teresa Satterfield, associate professor of romance languages and literatures, LSA;
• Jennifer Schrage, director, Office of Student Conflict Resolution;
• Jacqueline Simpson, director, Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Affairs;
• Simone Himbeault Taylor, associate vice president for student affairs, director of The Career Center, and adjunct assistant professor, Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education;
• Monita Thompson, co-director, the Program on Intergroup Relations; and
• Dr. Robert Winfield, director, University Health Service and chief health officer.
Harper asked the committee to work with Spelman and Johnson Group, a specialized search firm, to identify and recruit national candidates for the position and to identify a list of finalists by early spring. She said the firm has a proven history filling administrative positions within higher education.
Eklund served first as assistant dean at the Law School and later was the associate dean of student affairs with responsibility for admissions, financial aid, career services, academic advising and more. She then served five years as director of user services during the M-Pathways project at Michigan Administrative Information Services before accepting the position as associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students in 2004.
“Dean Eklund is to be commended for her outstanding service to our students and the University over the last three decades,” Harper says. “As dean of students and associate vice president for student affairs, she has demonstrated outstanding leadership with her efforts to assure an inclusive institutional climate that fosters community, creates opportunities for student learning, supports student health and wellness and anticipates and responds to the needs of a highly diverse group of students as they pursue their personal and academic goals.”
