A candidate for the associate dean of students and director of minority student affairs position focused on the diversity of students and her individual definitions of success as part of her candidacy on a campus visit Friday.

Belinda Dalton spoke with a group of faculty and staff evaluators in Carver Hall about issues she would address if chosen for the position.

“We must remember each student is different in [his or her] needs, background, abilities, capabilities and motivations,” she said. “It doesn’t serve an institution well to lump [all diverse students] together.”

Dalton currently serves as a board member of the YMCA of Sauk Valley in Sterling, Ill., and director of student support services at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Ill.

The first step toward increasing success is to identify academic needs, then work with students in an appropriate program, she said. It is important to help students learn who they are, identify their learning styles and not change students but challenge them, she said.

“I will constantly provide support and encouragement, but teach students to be their own advocate,” Dalton said.

Throughout the semester, Dalton said the program should work with faculty members to track students’ progress. This can be done through midterm evaluations that ask if a student attends class regularly, identifies the challenges and strengths of the student and suggests ways to help the student succeed, she said.

After evaluations, someone should meet with the student to develop a strategy he or she could use to continue to do well, Dalton said.

Another way to help students is to provide mentors who offer encouragement, support and direction to students.

“[Learning] should be not only academic, but social as well,” she said.

Dalton said she sees the position of associate dean of students and director of minority student affairs filled by someone who can provide leadership and vision for the program.

Her vision for the program is to “provide a supportive and inclusive environment for all students.”

“Dalton said she will work for the students, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Pete Englin, dean of students. “She will be able to identify the tasks and see them through [and] she is a person who can be counted on to do what she says she is going to do.”

Englin said Dalton is “very reflective while remaining people-oriented.”

Those who attend the candidate forums are invited to fill out an evaluation form for the candidate.

A search committee of faculty, students and staff will evaluate each candidate and make a recommendation to Englin, who will make the final decision.

Carmen Flagge, program assistant for retention programs in the dean of students office, said the person selected for the position should “be a good leader but not authoritarian” [and] “be able to help others work together across campus.”

The associate dean of students and director of minority student affairs positions were once separate, but administrators combined them in January 2002. The former director of minority student affairs, Rafael Rodriguez, left the position in December 2000.

On Friday, Leonard Perry, executive director of the United Negro Fund and a candidate for the position, also spoke at a forum.

The last of the three forums will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday in the Pioneer Room of the Memorial Union for candidate Carolyn Brightharp, from Siena Heights University in Adrian, Mich.