Various student leaders last Friday met with Nancy Archer-Martin, senior vice president of the Educational Management Network, the company charged with finding a Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs for UMass Boston.

According to the company’s website, Ms. Martin has been in charge of “more than 500 executive-level searches.” The search for a vice chancellor joins searches for deans for both the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Science and Mathematics.

Ms. Martin stated she was there to gather perspective, and the most important part was getting a broad constituency across the campus. She proceeded to ask the student leaders what they thought were the issues, and a host of other questions, including what policies were working at UMass Boston.

“What works is when people are in their offices and ready and willing to listen,” said Student Senate President Joseph Panciotti. “Many times we find they have an open-door policy, and the door is open, but they’re not there.”

If the individual will be serving the students, he said, he would like them to have “extra strong listening skills.”

Riche Zamor, there representing the Black Student Center, said he liked the way the current dean, Angeline Lopes, was handling surveys.

Citing the student luncheons and the Community Front Page as examples, Michael Rhys, editor-in-chief of The Mass Media, said he felt that Chancellor Gora had changed the community quite a bit.

The new Vice Chancellor should be “our voice, not another obstacle to face,” added Managing Editor Jason Campos.

Student Trustee Heather Dawood stated that they should be “truly representing our needs,” later adding,”We need someone who can draw out student participation.”

“…[E]ven though we’re 12,000 [students], we still want the personal touch, the personal contact,” said Caroline Coscia, president of the Graduate Student Assembly.

Earlier, Student Trustee Heather Dawood had asked what the job description was. Ms. Martin responded that the student leaders were helping to write it. Trustee Dawood proceeded to ask whether the position would be taking the place of Ralph Tucker, special assistant to Chancellor JoAnn Gora, as well as that of Stephanie Janey, the former Dean of Student Affairs. Ms. Janey had left the previous semester to pursue a doctorate in Higher Education Administration. Mr. Zamor added to the question, wondering if the way Student Affairs works will be changed.

No personnel changes are expected until the person arrives and figures out what to do, Ms. Martin said. She later pointed out that several people working in Student Affairs have a Ph.D., and some don’t. She asked for some flexibility on that issue, since some people haven’t gotten that far.

“We don’t want an educated idiot,” replied Senator Hyppolite, provoking laughter from the crowd. He then suggested that the vice chancellor attend a Student Senate meeting once a month. “Recently, I’m seeing the SGA [Student Government Association] as what would be the student’s first stop in helping the Vice Chancellor deal with student issues.”

“But not a lapdog,” said President Panciotti. “A bulldog,” said Senator Hyppolite.

Ms. Martin promised to return, and stated that things will remain quiet for a couple of months as the pool of candidates is built. “I’ll hear what you say,” she said.