“Our ultimate concern was the level of services would decrease or services would change around without any student input.”
– Neal Michals, Student Association government affairs analyst

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago agreed to keep the Division of Student Affairs intact after the Student Association lobbied for its current state.

Student Association (SA) members said that there had been talk about the possibility of the chancellor dismantling the division and incorporating some of its services into other branches of UWM administration.

The SA started a signature petition on Monday, Nov. 14, and continued with that petition the next day. The SA got about 1,000 signatures on the petition.

SA President Russ Rueden met with Santiago on Tuesday, Nov. 15, when Santiago returned from a trip to discuss the students’ displeasure with any possible action, said Neal Michals, SA government affairs analyst.

During the meeting, the chancellor said he was happy with the show of student support and unity through the petition the SA started, Michals said.

“We’ve made our displeasure with the chancellor known and he responded accordingly,” Michals said.

Rueden did not return two calls seeking comment on Monday.

Michals said that the chancellor gave his verbal agreement to keep the division in place. The SA, however, is continuing to push the chancellor to put the agreement in written form.

“Our ultimate concern was the level of services would decrease or services would change around without any student input,” Michals said. “Our fear was that it was going to affect services.”

Santiago said there was never any plan to reorganize the division.

“I believe that it is always healthy for any institution to periodically review its operations to determine whether better service can be provided to students at a more affordable rate,” Santiago wrote in an e-mail response. “If a plan is ever developed to reorganize any part of our operation, particularly one that impacts students, we will ensure that it is vetted through student, faculty and staff governance as has been our practice.”

Administrators were considering the idea after Mary Roggeman, former vice chancellor for Student Affairs, left Nov. 4 after 29 years of service at UWM.

Jim Hill, interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said that administrators viewed the opportunity of an open vice chancellor position to examine the division and see whether there needed to be any improvements or structural changes.

“Anything can, perhaps, be improved,” Hill said. “Now would it have to be restructured in order to do it? I don’t know.”

After such an examination, Hill said, then the university would go about trying to fill the position.

For now, Hill said, he will continue an ongoing assessment of the division to see if there are any areas that need improvement.

“It’s just about looking at those ongoing assessments and gleaning off inefficiencies,” he said.

Hill said the SA petition and the show of student support was a “validation” of the Division of Student Affairs.

“Those of us who work in the division think that’s great,” Hill said. “It’s excellent testimony of the job we do.”

Jim Hill, who had been serving as the dean of students and Office of Student Life, has been named the interim chancellor for Student Affairs.

The Division of Student Affairs includes recruitment and outreach, the Children’s Center, Norris Health Center, the Financial Aid Office, the Career Development Center, TRIO and Pre-College, Enrollment Services, the Athletic Department, the Klotsche Center, and the Office of Student Life.

Other programs and services that fall under the Student Affairs umbrella include University Housing, the Bookstore, the Union, restaurant operations and Neighborhood Housing, Be On the Safe Side, the Student Activities Office, LINKS Peer Outreach and Mentoring Center, the Center for Volunteerism & Student Leadership, the Women’s Resource Center, the LGBT Resource Center, the SA Advising Office and the Direct Assistance Center.

While Hill continues an ongoing assessment of the division, the focus will remain on the students, he said.

“We’ll continue to provide same level of high-quality service that we now know students have come to expect,” he said.

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