Three dean of students candidates give presentations this week
Three candidates for the open dean of students position will visit campus this week to interview for the job and present at an open forum.
Candidates will be on campus Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and all open forums will be held from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Whitewater room of the Idaho Commons.
Former Dean of Students Craig Chatriand resigned in March after about two months in the position, following the retirement of longtime Dean of Students Bruce Pitman.
Blaine Eckles is the associate dean of students at Boise State University and will be on campus Tuesday, followed by Ryan Greene, director of the International Student Center at Seattle University, who will give a presentation at an open forum Wednesday.
Neil Cohen, who currently serves as associate vice president for Student Affairs/Student Life at Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will be the last candidate to make his pitch for the position at an open forum session Friday.
As associate dean at BSU, Eckles manages disciplinary hearings, coordinates Title IX investigations and oversees academic integrity processes.
In the position, Eckles also serves as chair for the Campus Assessment, Resource and Education (CARE) team, which aims to find solutions to dangerous behaviors on campus.
Although Eckles has been a Bronco since 1997, he received his doctorate in adult, organizational learning and leadership from University of Idaho Boise in 2011.
Before beginning his associate dean position in 2011, Eckles was the director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities at BSU, a position he held for six years.
As director, Eckles developed the overall vision for the office and oversaw student conduct proceedings, which included the resolution of over 400 disciplinary cases a year.
While at BSU, Eckles has also served as associate director of Student Affairs, student conduct officer, special services coordinator and testing coordinator, among other positions.
Greene, in his position as director of the International Student Center, oversees academic and social programs that aim to support hundreds of international students at Seattle University. Greene has been in the position since 2010.
In the position, Greene serves on Seattle University’s diversity task forces, acts as the school’s Primary Designated School Official and oversees an annual operating budget of $360,000.
Before Seattle University, Greene was the director of the Office of Multicultural & International Student Programs at Hofstra University for four years. While at Hofstra, Greene developed a student life program for international and multicultural students and served as the primary adviser to a number of cultural clubs.
In past positions, Greene has served as an academic adviser and recruiter at the University of Maryland and a coordinator for residential education at Stevenson College in California.
Cohen has been at Broward College since 2000 and has served in his current associate vice president role for 11 years. In this position, Cohen serves as the school’s deputy Title IX coordinator and is responsible for a budget of more than $8 million.
While in the position, he developed policies that allocated activity and service funds in compliance with state rules. Cohen also oversees the Office of Disability Services, which provides services to more than 1,500 students a year.
Prior to his associate vice president position, Cohen was district director of Student Development Services for four years at Broward.
Before Broward, Cohen spent nine years at the University of South Florida and served in a number of positions, including director of operations for the student center and director of Student Activities.
The candidates will also meet with UI students each of the respective days from 3-4 p.m. in the Idaho Commons Panorama room.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryantarinelli