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The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Student experience deans launch series of informal chats with students in Marvin Center

Dean+Whitelaw+%7C+Staff+Photographer+
Dean Whitelaw | Staff Photographer

Two student experience officials kicked off a biweekly series of informal discussions with students Wednesday.

Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Cissy Petty and Associate Dean of Students Colette Coleman spent an hour and a half on the first floor of the Marvin Center speaking with students passing by about topics like food and housing affordability. Petty and Coleman said they hope the “Chat with the Deans” events, held every other Wednesday this semester, will make students feel comfortable approaching them to talk about issues facing college students.

“The informality of being able to sit down and have coffee together makes it easy to say the hard things,” Petty said.

Petty, who made several weeklong stays in residence halls last year, said she considers herself a “very relational dean” who is interested in connecting with students. She said the chats allow the two officials to keep consistent lines of communication with the student body, referencing “Fierce Leadership” author Susan Scott’s idea that productive relationships require constant conversation.

“I want that to epitomize how I move through the world – being a dean is to stay in the conversation,” Petty said. “When it’s hard, let’s stay in the conversation. Let’s stay in the conversation when it’s fun and we’re laughing. Let’s stay in the conversation so that we can get to the place of really understanding each other.”

Petty said she discussed topics like EMeRG, the Student Association and housing plans with students. She added that she wants future chats to be located even closer to the main walkway in Marvin – next to Panera Bread – to make it more convenient for students to stop by.

Officials expanded Petty’s role and responsibilities this semester to give her oversight of areas like the Mount Vernon Campus and the Lerner Health and Wellness Center and allow her to report directly to University President Thomas LeBlanc. Administrators said the change gives students more say in the University’s upper-level departments and decision-making processes.

Coleman, the associate dean of students, said Petty drummed up the idea for the “Chat with the Deans” initiative last spring as a way to increase their visibility and make themselves more accessible to students.

“A lot of times when we’re doing things, we’re either going into particular groups or particular communities that are already established,” she said. “This levels the playing field and allows us to meet students from all walks.”

Coleman said she heard feedback from freshmen at the chat who identified food as the one thing they miss most about home. She said the sentiment echoed comments she has heard from students in the past, so officials are working to deliver dining improvements this year.

“When they think of home, they think about the food and the meals that they had at home and the community that they had,” Coleman said. “That’s something that we’re trying to create here.”

Officials have responded to concerns of food insecurity with year-over-year increases to dining dollars, a discounted Meal Deals program and a student-run food pantry. Student leaders launched a food insecurity task force last fall and found that 79 percent of students would use a dining hall on the Foggy Bottom Campus if it were an option.

Coleman added that officials will promote the chats through social media, student organizations and GW Engage. Coleman said she hopes students will also hear about the chats from their friends.

Students who participated in the event said the location and informal setting in a heavily trafficked student space make the deans more approachable and demonstrate that they value student feedback.

Senior Ian Kavanaugh, a resident adviser in District House, said he has previously met with Petty to discuss his experience at GW but added that the new chats make it easier for students who would find personally reaching out to the deans to be “really intimidating.”

“I think it’s really important that our administrators get more on the ground level and really are interacting with students to understand the University,” he said.

He said he spoke with Petty at the event about the impacts of new changes to RA responsibilities, like conducting rounds in residence halls.

Hallie Koch, a senior majoring in political science, said she attended the event because she often talks about issues she faces with other students and thought sharing her input with “people who can actually do something about it” would be helpful. She said the chats are a forum from which officials can collect feedback about the student experience that they might not otherwise hear.

“It makes the student life office seem much more approachable and [shows] really that our voices as students matter, as far as what we are concerned about and what we’re experiencing since we’re on the ground and they’re not,” she said.

Aidan Lang, a freshman majoring in physics and mathematics, said Petty asked him at the event if he thought anything at GW needed to be improved, which he appreciated. He said he told Petty he liked the open dining plan and discussed the potential to open a dining hall in the renovated Thurston Hall.

“These are the higher-ups, I guess,” he said. “They make decisions or at least are involved in making the decisions, so I think it’s important that they talk to students so they know what we think and what we want.”

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