Last week, it was announced that a pair of administrative shifts will change who oversees key divisions of the college. The changes “aim to center the student experience, bring comparable portfolios together, and capitalize on the experience and talent of administrators and staff in multiple offices,” according to Lafayette Today. They are set to enter effect on March 1.
For the first change, Audra Kahr, the executive vice president for Finance and Administration, will now oversee operations of Public Safety, which formerly reported to the Division of Student Life. Kahr will also take over the responsibilities of Human Resources.
On Feb. 13, the college announced that Leslie Muhlfelder ’81, who served as the college’s general counsel and vice president for Human Resources for three decades, is retiring at the end of the academic year. The college will launch a search for the next general counsel this spring and plans to separate the general counsel role from its tie with the Office of Human Resources.
“When we posted the job for Audra, we were looking for somebody that had some HR experience … and she’s ready to grab that responsibility when Leslie retires at the end of the academic year,” Hurd said.
Hurd said that with this separation of the general counsel role from Human Resources, she hopes the college will be better able to focus on topics like diversity training.
The second change added Recreation Services to director of Athletics Sherryta Freeman’s purview. Formerly, Recreation Services was operated by the Division of Student Life.
“I think this is exciting because now [Freeman] can see the whole student body and not just the twenty-five percent of the student body that are student-athletes,” Hurd said. “She can think about ways to support everybody better, including our student-athletes but also our students that should be out enjoying clubs sports, Rec Services, etc.”
Hurd added that the move will potentially allow for productive conversations with Student Government about how club sports are funded.
Lastly, the Gateway Career Center, which was formerly classified under the Office of Development and College Relations, now belongs under the Division of Student Life.
Hurd said she hopes that the Gateway Career Center can become more involved in all aspects of the Lafayette student experience. With the change, Gateway could become more involved with discussions about planning orientation or discussions with LEOs, for example.
Shifting divisions away from oversight by the Student Life Division has helped in better defining the role and expectations of the vice president for Student Life, a role the college is looking to fill permanently.
No downsizing was involved with the administrative realignment, so there was no impact on staff.
“It’s got me excited in terms of getting senior leaders on my team and then giving them portfolios that make sense as we lift up the student experience,” Hurd said of the administrative realignment.
