Lipscomb University - Backlog Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

Page 25 text:

Dr. Steve Flatt Business Affairs Dr. Carl McKelvey Campus Affairs ny greene ee TSE aS ea 9? RSE ST RE EE ee eet Ea ST aS Vice Presidents—2 1

Page 24 text:

Administration Lae a a SE ee ee eee” Dr. Mack Wayne Craig Institutional Planning Dr. Earl Dennis : Academic Affairs 20—Vice Presidents

Page 26 text:

Administration Jim Thomas became acting Dean of Students in Septem- ber. Within five months, he had handed in his letter of resignation to Vice President Carl McKelvey. What hap- pened? Thomas admits he had doubts about the job before he took it. He had done his thesis on student retention— that is, keeping students in school. Thomas had dreams of how he could use his phi- losophy in his new position not to remove students from school, but to keep them there. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as he’d hoped it would. Students continued to break the rules, just as they had un- der previous deans, and after they had been reprimanded, they broke them again. The only option was dismissal, and Thomas had a hard time being the one to close the door behind them. The job also demanded a great deal of time, more than Thomas had anticipated. During the fall quarter Stu- dent Personnel Deans held six hundred and fifty-five conferences. There were many nights when he didn’t get home until after 8:00 and didn’t see his three-year-old daughter or his new son. Thomas, above all, is a fam- ily man, and the time ele- Dr. Jimmy Thomas Acting Dean of Students ment involved, combined with the basic contrast in his philosophy and the duties of the position, led to his res- ignation. But Thomas was offered a new position at Lipscomb to begin the next quarter. What is the position? “Director of Student Retention and As- sistant Registrar’. The year was a roller coaster ride for Thomas, but it ended on a definite high. He may have given up the deanship, but, seeing what lay ahead of him, he has no regrets. When one entered the of- fice of Student Affairs, he saw Mary Proctor’s desk sitting halfway between two doors. To the left was Dean of Stu- dents Jim Thomas... to the right was Associate Dean of Students, Sarah Keith Gam- ble. The office of Dean of Stu- dents handles any problems remotely related to the stu- dents and their activities, au- thorized or, most frequently, Sarah Keith Gamble Associate Dean of Students unauthorized. Thomas ac- knowledges that he de- pended heavily on Gamble this year and that she made his term as dean a lot easier. Gamble worked closely with various student lead- ers—club leaders and ASA president and secretary Steve Clark and Annette Alexander on everything from elections to curfew, just a few of the areas her office was respon- sible for handling. ———————— eee ee re eee as eee ee eee eae ee SCS S — sSY 22—Dean of Students