The Office of the Dean of Students announced it was creating a new position to work with student organizations Wednesday, the day before the opening of the new Student Activities Center.
Stephanie Goodell announced she will be the new assistant director of student involvement. Goodell, who for the last two years has been an assistant dean of students in Student Life, will coordinate the services that ODOS will provide through the SAC.
In addition to providing office space, SAC will put student organizations in touch with advisors from ODOS and other organizations around Grounds, Goodell said.
Goodell also will work in leadership development and community service, as she did in her job with Student Life.
"Leadership development and program support have so much in common," she said.
ODOS originally planned to hire someone to oversee the new student activities center, Newcomb Hall Director Bill Ashby said.
But "as we got closer and closer to opening, it became pretty clear there was a lot of overlap" between Goodell's job in Student Life and the services SAC will provide, Ashby said.
Moreover, a University-wide hiring freeze made employing another staff member unlikely, he said.
Goodell "has so much experience with leadership and service," said Kelly Polk, Student Council vice president for organizations.
Other ODOS staff members will take over some of Goodell's duties with Student Life.
The SAC will serve as a "clearinghouse" for leadership development and peer advising services around Grounds, said David Wolcott, an intern in ODOS and Education School doctoral student who has worked in support of student organizations.
Those advising sources might include U.Va. LEAD, a peer advising program, and the Office of African American Affairs, Wolcott said.
"There's a good number of students who feel they spend too much time running around trying to figure out how to get things" for their organizations, Goodell said.
SAC staffers also will hold a series of workshops on topics such as managing an organization's finance and recruiting members, Wolcott said.
Yesterday Polk and Council President Micah Schwartz cut a ribbon to open the SAC.
A crowd of perhaps 100 students representing different Contracted Independent Organizations got their first glimpse of the room since it was refurbished over the summer.
The room, on the first floor of Newcomb Hall, formerly held cubicles for CIOs. It was renovated to provide communal computers and copiers, as well as individual storage lockers and mailboxes for organizations.
Bill Ashby, who has served as Newcomb Hall Director for just over one year, gave a brief speech.
"When a new person comes in, they start to size you up," Ashby said. "When I started talking about this room, they started sizing me up for a straightjacket."
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