Used to the semester system, Northwestern’s newest administrator waited impatiently for freshmen to arrive mid-September.
But Patricia Telles-Irvin, NU’s new vice president for student affairs, wasn’t idle between August 1 – her official start date – and Sept. 12, the first day of Wildcat Welcome. She was touring campus, including every residence hall, from the basement of Bobb-McCulloch to the recently redesigned Allison Hall.
“I set foot in all of them,” Telles-Irvin said Thursday, adding she’s spent most of her time on campus thus far meeting with fellow administrators. “It’s been great.”
The student affairs veteran, who most recently held the same position at the University of Florida in Gainesville, was selected to succeed retired longtime admin William Banis in January. She’s also the president of NASPA, a national organization of student affairs administrators.
Now she’s in charge of the office at NU that oversees nearly all of non-academic life on campus, including residential life and housing, religious life and fraternities and sororities. The office’s scope extends to all students at NU, not just undergrads.
“Right now she is looking and listening,” said Dean of Students Burgwell Howard, who will work under Telles-Irvin and was a member of the search committee that helped select her.
His new boss was “as excited for the first day of class as any of the students,” Howard said.
The VPSA search committee, chaired by Associate Provost Ronald Braeutigam, seemed pleased in January to have netted such a big fish in its search for Banis’ successor.
Braeutigam reiterated his pleasure with Telles-Irvin Monday, calling her “one of the very top people in the search pool,” which included dozens of applicants vetted over a 10-month period.
“We were extremely excited to be able to get her to come to Northwestern,” he said. “I think the students are going to love her.”
Telles-Irvin, who’s trained in psychology, focused the tail-end of her tenure at UF tackling binge drinking through a community coalition. Her arrival at NU coincides with the University joining the Learning Collaborative on High-Risk Drinking, a Dartmouth-led initiative researching solutions to binge drinking on campuses nationwide.
In addition to the coalition, Howard said Telles-Irvin will look at NU’s involvement in initiatives like the Red Watch Band program, started after the alcohol-related death of NU freshman Matthew Sunshine in 2008. Telles-Irvin will need an understanding of NU’s drinking culture before she can begin to address it, she said.
“I first have to assess what the issues are, but I’m trying to get a better sense of what the problem is, if there is one,” she said. “Each school’s very different.”
To help students engage with Telles-Irvin, Austin Young, the Associated Student Government president, said ASG is in the process of planning “special interest roundtables” featuring student groups with shared goals or interests, like theater. The Weinberg senior wants Telles-Irvin to be a big part of those meetings and expects the first to occur before the end of October.
“She’s very engaging,” said Young, calling the new administrator “warm and receptive.” “She’s very open to meeting with students.”
Telles-Irvin had her first shot at interacting with students Monday at the President’s Convocation. It’s something she can’t wait to do more of, she said.
“I love students,” she said. “I want to hear from them, and I look forward to getting to know them.”
