June 29, 2015

Stettler to lead revived Student Affairs unit

Lori StettlerCARBONDALE, Ill. -- Lori Stettler, assistant vice chancellor for auxiliary services at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will lead the university’s student affairs division when it is revived July 1. Her appointment as interim vice chancellor for student affairs is subject to approval of the university’s Board of Trustees.

The board approved returning to a formal student affairs division April 16 following the recommendation of a task force that studied the efficiency and effectiveness of non-academic student services.

“The university eliminated the student affairs vice chancellor position in 2011 and divided the offices that made up student affairs, moving some to the provost and others to the business and finance area,” said SIU President Randy Dunn. “While we continued to serve students, we lost a lot of opportunities for synergy, effective collaboration and efficiencies that most universities have with a unified student affairs approach.

“Student life and student services are critically important to student retention,” he added. “Our goal is to create a strong, unified student affairs approach that will contribute to a positive student experience at SIU.”

Dunn said that the reorganization is “revenue neutral,” meaning that there are no immediate costs or savings, but that he hopes the new structure may lead to reduced expenses by creating efficiencies over time.

Offices that will report to the vice chancellor for student affairs including University Housing, the Student Center, Recreational Sports and Services, Student Health Services, Rainbow’s End Child Care Center, Touch of Nature Environmental Center and Sustainability, all of which are auxiliaries currently reporting to Stettler, and the offices currently reporting to the dean of students, which include Student Programming, Student Involvement, Saluki Cares, Student Legal Services, the Center for Inclusive Excellence, Fraternity and Sorority Life, Night Safety Transit, Nontraditional Student Services, Student Rights and Responsibilities and Veteran’s Services.

Several academic support offices that reported to either the auxiliary services or the dean of students have already been moved within the office of the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. They include Achieve, Disability Support Services, Service Learning and Volunteerism and part of Continuing Education and Outreach.

Dunn said Stettler’s successful oversight of auxiliary services will be an asset to the new student affairs division.

“Lori brings a collaborative, team-oriented leadership style that will contribute to a smooth transition and positive relationships with our students,” he said.

Stettler said she looks forward to building partnerships within student affairs and across campus.

“I am excited to have this opportunity to increase the support of our students and to lead our professional team as we develop new ways to foster and promote student success beyond the classroom,” she said.

Stettler has been assistant vice chancellor for auxiliary services since 2011. She has also served as director of the Student Center at SIU, director of campus life and director of recreational sports at Southeast Missouri State University, and in related student affairs positions at Purdue University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Wichita State University. In addition, she taught courses in the departments of communications and health, human performance and recreation at Southeast Missouri State.

Stettler was SIU’s 2009 recreation alumnus of the year and received the 2005 Horace Moody Student Development Award from the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association. She is member of a number of professional associations, including the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the National Association of Campus Auxiliary Services, and has presented widely on topics related to auxiliary service management, leadership and professional development.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Southeast Missouri State and a master’s degree in recreation administration from SIU. She is nearing completion of her doctoral degree in educational administration and higher education from SIU.