Even though he has a lot on his plate, Interim Dean of Students Burgie Howard’s calm and jovial demeanor doesn’t necessarily reflect the stress of his position.
“I feel like I’m one of those chefs that have like 12 pots on the stove, and I’m trying to make sure nothing burns,” Howard said, jokingly.
Howard, formerly assistant to Vice President of Student Affairs William Banis, began his interim role at Northwestern in July after former Dean of Students Mary Desler retired to a part-time position. Since Desler left the position, the offices of University Residential Life and Fraternity and Sorority Life have switched to report directly to Banis rather than the dean of students.
Howard said his responsibilities as dean haven’t changed much from when Desler was dean, but he has gained new perspective in his new role.
“Me being new in the role provides me an opportunity to ask questions and experience things differently than someone who’s been in the job for a long period of time,” Howard said.
Now in his fifth year at NU, Howard said he spends his days meeting with students and members of the community and attending student events such as Project Pumpkin and the forum held by the Asian Pacific American Coalition Tuesday, among other responsibilities.
Alex Sims, president of Promote 360, a group that promotes student minorities within SESP, said she first met Howard when she worked as an assistant in Student Affairs. She said he is a “cool, laid back guy.”
“Burgie is very approachable,” the SESP senior said. “Not all administrators have a welcoming environment where you can walk in and have a casual discussion.”
Among the items that have recently popped up on Howard’s radar are off-campus problems and safety issues. In reference to recent crimes involving members of the NU community, he said students can take a number of actions to help protect themselves. He emphasized they should not walk alone at night and should take advantage of services offered by the University such as SafeRide and the shuttle system.
“Times are tough in Illinois,” Howard said. “I think Northwestern, in general, – faculty and staff or students - are always viewed as people who are more ‘haves’ than ‘have-nots….’ We’re likely targets.”
Howard said there are a number of issues with students living off-campus, particularly problems with noise, population density and students’ attitudes toward Evanston residents. He said he would eventually like to see an office that would assist students off-campus.
“You can imagine the frustration of someone who is an avid gardener who goes out there and plants their flowers and puts their mums out,” Howard said, “to find that someone has damaged their garden, dropped beer bottles (and) peed in their bushes and on their plants.”
Howard will serve out the school year as interim dean. He said the search for a permanent dean will start in late winter or early spring. A new dean of students will be named in mid- to late summer, he said.
Associated Student Government President Mike McGee, said Howard is a good friend of his, and he would like to see Howard stay in the role.
“He’s done a great job for the short amount of time he’s been in the position,” the Communication senior said. “I definitely don’t want to lose him to another school.”
From Howard’s vantage point though, “it’s an exciting time to be at NU.”
“I think we’re having a really great year thus far,” he said. “The negative things, they come with the job. But there are far more positives than negatives at Northwestern. That’s why I decide to come to work every day.”
