Deans’ Council Role on Campus Brought Forward

Although it remains relatively unknown by the student body, the Deans’ Council serves as an important liaison between the deans and the student body. The council, created last spring, meets every week to discuss a variety of topics proposed by members of the administration with the hope that the administration will take into account students’ thoughts and concerns.

Unlike Student Council, Deans’ Council does not seek to create policies. Instead, the members discuss their impressions of issues so that deans can better understand students’ perspectives.

As Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove put it, the mission of the council is to “increase communication, and in particular to forge a stronger understanding and partnership between the students and Deans’ Office.”

The idea for the council was conceived under the administration of former Student Council President Matthew Robbins ’17 and former Vice President Hojoon Kim ’17 in partnership with Dean of Students Melissa Mischke.

Since its creation, the Council has discussed topics such as the sexual misconduct posters in collaboration with  Exonians Against Sexual Assault (EASA), the reaction after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the new visitations’ policy proposals and more.

Lower Billy Menken, who has been a part of Deans’ Council since fall term, described his perception of the council. “Their idea [was] to get 15 people to represent as much of the school as possible. And that’s why they chose leaders of clubs, captains of sports teams or people who are generally known,” Menken explained.

Members of Deans’ Council believe that their system of selected members, as opposed to elected members in Student Council, ensures a diverse and comprehensive view of issues.

“We’re kind of hand-picked, and they make sure to pick us so we represent all of the student body,” upper and Deans’ Council member Abby Zhang said.

According to Zhang, many members of Deans’ Council are members of some of Exeter’s largest organizations, such as Student Council and Student Listeners. “It’s good to get representation of the entire school rather than people who are elected that might come from similar areas,” Zhang said.

“Deans’ Council normalizes that we are all, deans included, members of the community and that we want to work with students to resolve different issues. It’s not an us and them thing.”

Senior and Student Council Co-Vice-President Will Soltas further supported Zhang’s claim. “Another problem with elections is that they often only end up giving representation to a sliver of the Exeter student population.” Soltas reasoned that while elections do represent the voice of the student body, since the council was so small, the decision was made that they would select students to ensure the “widest range of voices.”

Lower Janalie Cobb agreed, believing that a system of elected representatives versus that of selected members naturally draws different types of people.

“Someone who’s elected has to be popular to some extent and have a name that’s known on campus,” she said. “You don’t necessarily have to be that type of person on Deans’ Council. That’s not to say the people on Deans’ Council aren’t sociable and likeable. But the point of Deans’ Council is to get the people who can contribute an opinion and a voice to the conversation.”

“Considering the fact that no real policy changes go into effect at these meetings, it’s just supposed to be a way for students of different backgrounds to communicate with deans,” Soltas said.

Cobb believes that her involved presence on campus is why she is part of Deans’ Council. “I feel like I’m not exactly a quiet voice on campus, and I do do a lot of the major clubs. I am involved in a lot of issues regarding race. I’m a proctor in OMA,” Cobb said.

Deans’ Council is only in its second year of existence. Because of this, the Council still faces a variety of problems, both logistical and ideological.

For Cobb, the biggest issue is scheduling. “We keep changing the meeting time because the deans can’t make it or the students can’t make it. It’s very difficult to coordinate one set meeting time for a group of 15 students and the deans,” Cobb explained.

Kurt*, who attended Deans’ Council as a representative of a student organization on campus, said that his two main issues with Deans’ Council are membership and “the limited nature of Deans’ Council.”

“The main goal of Deans’ Council is to establish a direct link of communication between the faculty and the students,” Kurt said. “But the problem is, when you bring students to a table and they aren’t necessarily coached before this meeting as to what viewpoints they should be representing, the discussion at the table turns into less of an outlet of representation from all backgrounds, and more of an outlet for peoples own personal opinions on it.”

In addition, Roger believes that the nature of Deans’ Council itself prevents it from having a real impact. “For instance, we haven’t seen any real tangible and effective change coming from Dean’s Council so far. I don’t think they’ve done anything yet,” he said. However, he admitted that these issues could be solved if addressed correctly.

Senior Molly Canfield acknowledged the relative mystery surrounding the Council. “Deans’ Council has the power to be an effective tool on this campus. It creates a platform for dialogue between the students and the administration,” Canfield said. “But I’m not really sure what they talk about and if it has made effective change on this campus. It would be interesting and perhaps more representative of how the whole student body feels if those conversations were more public or if the students on Deans’ Council were having open discussion with their friends and classmates about it.”

When asked what Deans’ Council brought to the community, Mischke emphasized its ability to open up more communication between the administration and the students.

“It’s a way for us to bring a topic to a group of students that are a cross-section of the student body. And get some input, rather than simply going blind and doing what we want to do,” Mischke said. “Deans’ Council normalizes that we are all, deans included, members of the community and that we want to work with students to resolve different issues. It’s not an us and them thing.”

Asterisks denotes name change to preserve anonymity.