DIVISION OF STUDENT LIFE 2021-2022 in Review
A LETTER FROM ALEX MILLER
Vice President for Student Life
Our Division of Student Life works to support the student experience outside of the classroom—students’ transition to college, campus engagement and leadership experiences, safety and wellbeing, and social connectedness. Over the last two years, we have built an infrastructure that allows us to execute on our priorities and supports the student experience even more effectively. This year, we welcomed many new team members, who brought an influx of energy and ideas to the Division. On the next page, you’ll find our current Student Life organizational chart. In August, we established annual priorities to anchor our shared Divisional work, and this report highlights the progress our departments made on those priorities during 2021-2022. We are proud of the work we accomplished collectively— not only continuing to respond to COVID-19, but also our ability to stay focused on achieving our priorities, in pursuit of advancing the student experience, and resurrecting all of the traditions, celebrations, and campus norms that COVID restricted in some way during 2020-2021. This year our team also spent time developing a strategic plan to guide our work over the next five years, and you can find a preview of those strategic goals on page 16.
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2021-2022
STUDENT LIFE PRIORITIES Empower students to be active participants in a diverse living and learning environment, through an expanded focus on our residential communities.
Maximize our student employment and student leadership positions to create learning opportunities for students to develop personal and professional skills and competencies that contribute to post-graduate success.
Re-center social life on campus by building and fostering meaningful, vibrant opportunities for students to connect with each other and creating the conditions for a thriving, inclusive, and safe social engagement through our resources, policies, and spaces.
Deepen our focus on creating a culture of holistic well-being for students that addresses mental and physical health, personal development and social connectedness. Increase student voice in matters related to their experience, through committee representation, pulse surveys, conversations, etc.
STUDENT LIFE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART Updated July 2022
JULIE TUCKER
Associate Vice President
ORIENTATION & FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE
CAMPUS SAFETY
ALEX MILLER
RED FRAME LAB
WELLNESS CENTER
Vice President for Student Life
NICOLE AUSMER
HOLLY BREYMAIER Executive Assistant
Associate Vice President & Dean of Student Life
RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES & HOUSING
ALFORD COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP & INVOLVEMENT CENTER
SPIRITUAL LIFE CENTER
COMMUNITY VALUES & STUDENT CONDUCT
FRATERNITY & SORORITY LIFE
CENTER FOR BELONGING & INCLUSION
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73%
OUR YEAR IN PHOTOS & NUMBERS
FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS reported Aug-O made them feel prepared to navigate their first-year at Denison
40
91% STUDENTS IN COUNSELING report their clinician helped them learn tools and strategies to address their problem
600+
STUDENTS attended Gala
488
43 STUDENTS ENJOYED the 2nd annual Diversity & Inclusion Student Celebration
150+ FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS matched with an upperclass mentor
STUDENTS IN ATTENDANCE at Passover, 4 students were baptized, and 18 halal care packages were distributed to Muslim students during Ramadan
INCIDENT REPORTS managed through Community Values & Student Conduct
25 YEARS of Paving The Way first-year pre-orientation
377 PROGRAMS HOSTED in residence halls by CAs
350 89% REPORT living on campus helped them learn to live cooperatively 4 STUDENT LIFE: PROGRESS ON PRIORITIES
STUDENT LEADERS participated in diversity & inclusion training from the Center
14 BUSINESSES PITCHED during Red Frame’s Pitch Gala
139 STUDENTS PARTICIPATED in the Fraternity & Sorority New Member & Emerging Leader Academy
$19,900 AWARDED through Red Thread Grants, supporting 92 students in navigating a financial hardship
150 STUDENTS attended Karaoke with the Conduct Office
25 824
(32%) NEW COLLEAGUES joined Student Life, bringing new ideas and energy
1,314 STUDENTS SEEN by Medical Services and 522 STUDENTS seen by Counseling Services
FIREWORKS on the first day of classes and graduation
2,606 SAFE RIDE and medical transports by Campus Safety
317 RESIDENTIAL COVID CASES managed by Housing and Wellness
592 HOURS OF TRAINING participated in by Campus Safety staff
8,100+ HOURS OF SERVICE completed by Denison students
STUDENTS (33%) engaged with the Red Frame Lab
3,130
242 STUDENTS ARE EMPLOYED in the Division of Student Life
754
2,614
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES across 14 Pulse Surveys
SQUARE FEET OF WINDOWS in the Hoaglin Wellness Center DENISON UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF STUDENT LIFE 5
RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES
Empower students to be active participants in a diverse living and learning environment through an expanded focus on our residential communities.
PROGRESS MADE We worked to leverage residence halls as a site of learning. In addition, Belonging & Inclusion facilitated programs in support of our commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism (IDEA). Here are some of the highlights from the year: CAs hosted 377 programs to foster community in the residence halls, like Open Mic Night for First-Years, Cookies & Consent, and Drag Queen Bingo. Residential Communities & Housing renovated Curtis, Smith, Shorney, and Crawford in Summer 2021, updating furniture, flooring, lighting, mattresses and added new lounge spaces. Single occupancy restrooms increased accessibility for gender non-binary students. In Summer 2022, we renovated Morrow House and Kappa Sigma. Belonging & Inclusion facilitated programs on inclusive leadership, cultural appropriation, cancel culture, religion and activism. Community Values & Student Conduct met with residence hall communities, 15 athletic teams, and fraternity and sorority leaders.
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Residential Communities sparked meaningful conversation by adding table topics to dining spaces. Residential Communities supported the weekly student-led trivia in Silverstein Hall. The Spiritual Life Center refocused its mission toward providing support and resources for all religious traditions and spiritual explorations and provided and supported programming, including Shabbat dinners, Latke Fest, Hanukkah, Iftar meal, and Easter services.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Weekly Trivia with Jack Reaney ‘22 & Henry Burnett ‘22 “Senior trivia was a magnificent way to bring together students who share a passion for showing their intelligence. We take pride in providing an informal space for all seniors to kick back every Thursday night, and enjoy their last months on the Hill. This gathering of seniors built a connection between a wide range of students, and the amazing Slivy’s Café staff. This tradition was passed down to us, from the imagination and courage of Jack Woolcott ‘21 and Ron Tran ‘21 who started this tradition, and we look forward to seeing Senior Trivia evolve as we pass the torch to rising seniors.”
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PROGRESS MADE We worked collectively to make campus more “fun”—to provide more opportunities for social life on The Hill and to provide more opportunities to foster connection and community. Here are some highlights from the year: First-Year Experience, Residential Communities & CLIC continued to foster connection among sophomores, whose first-year was impacted by COVID, through Sophomore Orientation, Class of 2024 Foam Party, and a 2024 Connect Trip to a Blue Jackets Game. First-Year Experience facilitated five Connect to Columbus trips: Clippers game, The Wilds, Crew game, Zoo & Aquarium, North Market, & Columbus Museum of Art.
Student Life and CLIC revitalized the Moonies this year, hosting Late Night events and establishing the Moon Hall programming board to give students a voice in the creation of social functions. Major programs include Carnaval, Denison Debate Society’s Discussion Across Differences, Spring or Fling, Moonies Roller Disco, and a variety of food trucks and parties. We also created an outdoor patio for the Moonies. CLIC hired a Coordinator for Social Life, to work collaboratively to build meaningful opportunities for Denison students to connect social life through resources, policies, and campus space.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Noah Chartier ‘25 brings “Survivor” to Campus “Sometimes the silliest things can bring the best connections. This was demonstrated through Denison Survivor, a game run by and for first-years for fun that turned into a 90 person community by the end of Spring Semester. The spontaneity of getting competitively social with new friends is a great way to integrate into the Denison community. Many members of the class of 2025 credit Survivor with creating or strengthening their bonds with those who are their closest friends now and helping them find the community they would like to be in for the next four years.”
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CLIC launched a new platform/app, “What to DU,” that allows students to more easily identify and connect to campus organizations and events occurring on campus. CLIC strengthened relationships with fraternity and sorority leaders and provided more opportunities for them to socialize within their spaces. CLIC supported off-campus opportunities like Cedar Point, Columbus Blue Jackets and Columbus Crew games, the Wilds, and Go-Karting. FYE and campus partners designed four new preorientation programs for August 2022.
SOCIAL LIFE
Recenter social life on campus by building and fostering meaningful, vibrant opportunities for students to connect with each other and creating the conditions for a thriving, inclusive, and safe social engagement through our resources, policies and spaces..
CLIC hosted 28 food trucks (750+ burritos, 900+ pitas, 1000+ crepes, 2500+ donuts) 400 build-your-own stuffed animals 32 casino games 12 touring drag queens ...plus, roller skating rinks, water slides, carnival rides, putt-putt courses, national touring musicians, a hypnotist, outdoor movies, ice skating rinks, and zip lines. Campus Safety grilled 1,110+ hot dogs to build positive, proactive relationships with students.
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PROGRESS MADE In partnership with our Assistant Director of Student Employment, we worked to support the professional development of our 242 student employees in Student Life. In addition, many offices contributed to the skill development of student leaders. Here are some highlights from the year: Departments trained student employees, including RED Corps, CAs, orientation leaders, peer mentors, helping them to build professional skills. Hired Assistant Director of Student Employment. Participated in National Student Employment Week. 38 first year students and 10 student mentors participated in the annual DU Lead experience. Belonging & Inclusion hosted Inclusive Leadership Training for CAs, FSL leaders, and orientation leaders.
Fraternity & Sorority Life (FSL) has been working to help chapters thrive by re-centering the values of fraternities and sororities, building relationships between organizations, and providing opportunities for members to develop leadership skills for postDenison: hosting a FSL leaders retreat, encouraging council/chapter goal-setting, launching a new member academy to introduce shared expectations and build community, and working with chapters to assess their culture and develop action plans. Through Red Frame Lab’s Red Frame Consulting, Red StartUp, and UX Design opportunities, students built skills like pitching, project management, teamwork, and communication. 30 students participated in the 25th anniversary of Paving the Way Orientation.
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT & LEADERSHIP Maximize our student employment and student leadership positions to create learning opportunities to develop personal and professional skills and competencies that contribute to post-graduate success. 10 STUDENT LIFE: PROGRESS ON PRIORITIES
STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS
Zora Whitfield ‘24, Student Conduct Board “Serving at UCB has provided me a different perspective of campus. It has deepened my love for my Denisonian community. I am always thrilled to serve my fellow peers and the community on UCB because I know the department is rooted in purpose and growth. Denison can feel like a bubble from the outside, but the UCB opened my eyes up to how Denison is actually preparing us for the outside world.” Grace Klein ‘22, DU Lead “Participating in DU Lead as a participant, co-coordinator, and club advisor has definitely helped me grow as a leader over my four years at Denison. As a first-year participant, DU Lead helped me get to know several wonderful upperclassmen that served as familiar faces on campus and inspired me to be a leader and mentor myself. As a co-coordinator, I learned many administrative and leadership skills, and being a club advisor allowed me to practice mentorship and facilitation, all experiences that will be useful to me in the future. Beyond that, DU Lead is a great opportunity to spend a weekend engaging in meaningful conversations and fun activities with a really cool, diverse group of people which is the cherry on top.”
Maddy Murphy ‘23 , Student Conduct Board “Having the opportunity to serve on the University Conduct Board as a student member has been instrumental in my personal growth. I have learned how to have sensitive conversations with a wide range of people while centering on civility, respect, and an open mind. UCB service has solidified my belief in restorative justice, Denison’s community values, and the importance of fostering a community that looks out for one another and holds high standards for each other. I am grateful for the amount of student input that the conduct office seeks in the creation and execution of their process and procedures.” Faith Boirard ‘25, Student Conduct Board “As a pre-law student, UCB has been one of my favorite things to do on campus. It’s great practice for court proceedings and principles, and I love being able to advocate for my fellow students.”
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STUDENT WELLNESS Deepen our focus on creating a culture of holistic well-being for students that addresses mental and physical health, personal development and social connectedness.
PROGRESS MADE We made progress on this goal in several ways— through the design and construction of our new wellness center, the development of a crossinstitutional wellness strategic plan, and through the ways we supported student wellness on an individual and community level. Here are some highlights from the year: In June 2021, we broke ground on the Ann & Thomas Hoaglin Wellness Center. We gathered feedback from students about the aesthetic of the building. We invited students, faculty and staff to sign the foundation of the Wellness Center, symbolic that we are all part of the foundation of our community’s wellness and to build excitement for the new center and vision for wellness. A team of faculty, staff, and students developed a cross-institutional plan for well-being, to guide Denison’s work over the next 3-5 years. We hired a firm to conduct an external review of our wellness resources. We announced and launched a partnership with The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, to provide additional mental health and physical health resources on campus, including a psychiatrist and offering onsite OSU physical therapy and musculoskeletal clinics. The Spiritual Life Center helped to support individual students and communities of students in their faith traditions. The department had a strong year of rebuilding with a vision of providing resources for a breadth of student religious traditions and hired a Jewish Life Coordinator and a Buddhist Lama. Red Frame integrated a module into Advising Circles, helping to normalize the stretch that students feel and reframe messages around wellness. Belonging & Inclusion hosted eight monthly Mental Health & Wellness Check-Ins for men of color.
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Fraternity & Sorority Life supported Beta Theta Pi’s Mental Health Gala focused on holistic well-being for college men. Campus Safety participated in training for responding to mental health crises through a culturally-competent lens. Student Wellness hosted an array of programming focused on stress management, healthy sleep, healthy relationships, time management, safe spring break, body positivity, teaching kitchens and also supported wellness-focused student organizations. Denison renovated Gilpatrick House to move Spiritual Life Center uphill, to be more centrallylocated for students. Financial Wellness offered robust programming and many speaker series to help students develop skills to manage their financial well-being, in addition to providing 1-1 financial coaching. Wellness supported mindfulness programming, including Denison Mindfulness Orientation, a weekend Silent Retreat for faculty and staff, Koru trainings, Urban Zen and Reiki, and mindfulness workshops for faculty, staff and students, including incorporating mindfulness into the classroom and mindfulness for healing and resilience.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Jake Caldwell ‘23 helps to shape student wellness “Denison is actively moving towards a campus of wellness. The new wellness center that I have been working on for the past two semesters, through my role in RED Corps and on our cross-institutional committee for well-being, is going to serve as the heartbeat to Denison’s culture of wellness. Over the next 5 years, Denison is looking to increase their student’s and staff’s awareness of wellness practices that work for them. The Hoaglin Wellness Center is the perfect place to start.”
DENISON UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF STUDENT LIFE 13
STUDENT VOICE
Increase student voice in matters related to their experience, through committee representation, pulse surveys, conversations, etc.
PROGRESS MADE This became less of a “goal” for Student Life and simply ingrained as fundamental practice in our approach to our work with students— that we proactively engage students in conversation, that we’re visible and present with them across different spaces in student org meetings, campus governance, dining halls, athletic events, or even across the quad. Here are some highlights from the year: Student Life conducted 14 Pulse Surveys on topics like COVID response, Belonging & Inclusion, wellness, strategic planning, and a campus swingset.
To develop our Student Life strategic plan, we hosted Listening Tour Conversations with student leaders to collect their input on the direction of the Division.
Departments engaged student voice through assessment: a Community Advisor training survey, Resident Assessment, Counseling Services, party registration and safe host training.
We collected student input on the interior design of the Wellness Center (paint colors, furniture, and fabrics).
RED Corps gathered student voice on a multitude of topics: campus bar, the Hoaglin Center building and programming, WhatToDU platform, first-year experience, pre-orientations, recycling and conduct/accountability. Community Values & Student Conduct engaged student voice through a Pulse Survey, qualitative surveys throughout the year, and a code review committee to gather feedback on the redesign of the code of conduct. They also added students to the University Conduct Board. Student Life engaged DCGA in a conversation about student wellness and the Hoaglin Center.
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Student Life hosted campus events to continue to strengthen relationships with students, including Late Night Breakfasts, Open Houses, and other student events.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS Mac Hammett ’23, Swinging a Dream into Reality “During a Community Advisor conversation in Spring 2022, Student Life came to talk with us about what direction or changes we wanted to see come to Denison to improve the student experience. I unmuted my microphone and said two words, “Swing Set.” During my elevator pitch for a swing, the Zoom chat feature blew up with fellow CAs expressing the same excitement I felt. It proved to me that a Wellness Swing would improve the entire campus experience, so I went to the Office of Student Life for help. What made me feel appreciated most in this experience is that when I first walked in their door, I was taken seriously despite the crazy nature of the swing idea. In collaboration, we started drafting up a game plan to develop this crazy idea into a reality. It took a lot of outside work on my end to see this idea through, but whether it was designing an effective survey, researching if swings existed on similar college campuses, or drafting the resolution to secure the funding from DCGA, I was supported and encouraged by the Office of Student Life to keep pushing and not give up on the swing. If it weren’t for Student Life, this idea would have never become a construction plan aimed for Fall 2022!”
Daniel Seely ‘23 and campus government “Student Life was a great partner to DCGA this year. The Student Life Office routinely presented to and received feedback from DCGA on topics like changes to Freshman Orientation, the Center for Belonging and Inclusion, and the Student Life Strategic Plan. Further, Student Life partnered with the DCGA on impactful projects like providing free masks to every student and renovating the Black Student Union.”
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STUDENT LIFE STRATEGIC PLAN
Student Centered. Mission Focused. Outcomes Driven.
ILLUMINATE PATHWAYS FOR STUDENTS to Navigate The Hill & Beyond
STUDENT LIFE STRATEGIC PLAN
FOSTER A SENSE OF BELONGING & INCLUSION Advancing The University’s Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Antiracism (IDEA)
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As a Division, we have spent Spring 2022 identifying what’s next for the Division—how do we want to imagine the next five years, where should we focus, how should we work to support the modern student experience. We have established the following as our strategic priorities.
Empower Students to Develop the Habits and Skills to
MANAGE THEIR WELL-BEING
Create a Divisional Professional Culture of
INNOVATION & EXCELLENCE
BUILD CONNECTION & COMMUNITY
DENISON UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF STUDENT LIFE 17
Division of Student Life Slayter 409 studentlife@denison.edu 740.587.6208