Four finalists have been selected in the search for a new vice president for student affairs, and each will visit Cal Poly for in-person reviews during the coming weeks.
Open forums beginning Wednesday this week will give students, faculty and staff a chance to meet the candidates. Attendees at the forums will have the opportunity to provide feedback about the applicants, which will be directed to the search committee that selected the four administrators.
The 11-person search committee finalists were announced Friday on Cal Poly’s website, the results of a nationwide search that began in mid-summer.
The committee includes two students: Associated Students, Inc. President and sociology senior Katie Morrow and nutrition senior Katelyn Dwyer. Morrow said she is looking for someone who can unite the guiding principles from all divisions of student affairs, from University Housing to greek life to orientation programs.
“One of the most important things to me is someone who’s able to provide vision,” Morrow said. “We need someone who’s really able to fuse the Office of Student Affairs with academic affairs model and what we’ve been doing in the classroom.”
The four candidates all come from current student affairs positions at other universities:
- Kevin Rome is the vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at North Carolina Central University.
- Keith Humphrey serves as the assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Arizona.
- Melynda Huskey is the dean of students and assistant vice president for student services at Washington State University.
- Melissa Vito works with Humphrey as the vice president for student affairs of the University of Arizona.
The schedule of open forums is posted on Cal Poly’s academic personnel website. Rome will be featured at the first forum Wednesday.
Morrow said students who attend the open forums should be looking for candidates who have experience that will be useful at Cal Poly.
“It’s not just someone who can talk the talk, but someone who we know can walk the walk, too,” she said. “We want to look for concrete examples.”
Since former vice president for student affairs Cornel Morton was reassigned this past year, University Housing Executive Director Preston Allen has served as interim vice president. Neither Morton nor Allen sits on the committee to find a replacement.
Sean McMinn contributed to this article.