GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.

The latest Northern Star "Faculty Spotlight" highlights a deanlet, Vicki Gerentes, NIU’s director of Fraternity and Sorority Life.  I wonder if any indirect cost returns finance her office.

“I have a senior associate director who’s with me and then a graduate assistant. The team of three is responsible for making sure that we have a wonderful program for students to be able to join. We manage rosters and provide grade reports to each organization as well. Between my staff and I, we each oversee two councils. I’m advising the National Panhellenic Council and the Panhellenic Council, but we both meet with every single chapter in some way.”

“We’re here to support the students, we are here to find ways that help the students in this process. My role is just to make sure that we have a really strong and great community. If there is an opportunity to have the Center for Greek Life, that by the time it gets there, that it’s just something that enhances a wonderful program. I’m here to make sure that experience is well supported, that we have staff members and resources that can help you work through challenges.”

Over the years, university administrators have toggled between working with the Greek-letter organizations and turfing them out.  The current posture appears to be "working with."

“There was a task force put together to help revitalize Greek Life, so a lot of administrators, students and alumni came together and put together this ultimate report after lots of conversations, lots of listening sessions, about how we can take Greek Life into the next phase. That hasn’t quite been funded yet and totally launched, but the land is there and there are secured plans for what it could look like.”

Curiously, for a faculty spotlight, there's little mention of faculty participation in that plan.  But there are plenty of other deanlets and deanlings to get to know.

“I think I’m just a new person, right? A lot that is really just learning more about the university, how we do things here, what kind of forms do you fill out in order to oversee certain things, which offices manage different programs and support students in different ways. It is a lot of relationship building and you can’t meet everybody in a day. It is a lot of time that I also have to spend, not just getting to know them [the students], but also colleagues, peers, the campus and the greater area.”

Whether that will pay off in increased enrollments and graduations is yet to be determined.