The Office of Student Life and the Office of the Dean of Students have merged into one office, effective this semester.
The decision was made by Interim Dean of Students Allen Groves with the goal of creating less overlap of duties for the two offices.
"I have asked him to look to see how we can better serve students," said Pat Lampkin, vice president of student affairs.
According to Groves, who worked for 16 years as an attorney focusing on labor and employment issues, the change needed to be made to make the Office of the Dean of Students more efficient.
"I decided to do away with this artificial contrast, and now we are all just the dean of students' office," Groves said.
Before the change, both the Office of Student Life and the Office of the Dean of Students were located in Peabody Hall and performed similar duties.
"Having these two entities in the same place doing the same work -- it was confusing," Groves said.
Lampkin said that by combining the two offices the University is "removing somewhat of an artificial structure."
According to Groves, the merge will decrease the amount of work for staff members, enabling them to concentrate more on students.
"If I can free people up from administrative jobs to have more time to spend with students, then that's a win," Groves said.
He added that he wants students to feel that the Office of the Dean of Students is open to everyone and said he hopes the recent change will provide more clarity about the purpose of the office.
"A lot of people incorrectly perceive the office as two things -- either you are in serious trouble or you are a student leader -- but that's just not true," Groves said.
According to Groves, the Office of the Dean of Students organizes leadership programs such as L2K and Blueprints, clears students for eligibility to study abroad, advises to students who are planning to withdraw and assists students with a number of other problems.
"I am really working so hard for people to know that our doors are always open," Groves said.
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