Editor’s Note: “Questions of the Week” is part of a weekly series in which Daily reporter Nina Fox interviews a prominent person in the Iowa State and Ames communities. To make a suggestion for a possible person to interview, submit an e-mail request to [email protected]. This week’s interview is with Kathleen MacKay, dean of students.

What do you do as dean of students?

As dean of students, I’m kind of a generalist, and I have a variety of functions. I have a crazy calendar schedule in terms of trying to fit in everything that I think needs to be done.

My philosophy is that our job is helping students make the most of their time while they’re in college. So everything I’m doing has to do with students, by trying to assist them and support them.

For example, if a student comes in and wants to talk about their GPA, even though I am not an academic adviser, I sometimes will talk about that. I’ll ask, “Are you happy with your GPA?” It is not important for me to know what their GPA is. What is important is how the student feels about their GPA. So if they tell me there’s something they want to do, then oftentimes what I’ll do is provide some contacts or guide.

For the most part, [my job is] helping students figure out how to make this place work for them.

How does your job differ from Vice President of Student Affairs Thomas Hill’s?

I’m different from the vice president of student affairs in that I have more specific duties. Dr. Hill supervises the whole division, and I am one part of that division, but the way we’re similar is that we’re both generalists.

Here we have 13 departments, where as Dr. Hill’s [departments] are much broader. Most of the people I work with are specialists. So I’m … more focused just on students, and he is a generalist on a more university level.

I need to stay as tuned in as I can as to what is going on with the students. One of the ways I do that is [by] going to student events. Students tell me that it means a lot for me to come.

How have you been handling the mercury problem in Helser Hall?

The first focus has been on students’ health and safety, and then DPS will be doing an investigation to see if they can find out where it came from. We might never know what happened, but I’m waiting to see the police reports and if there will be charges.

We try to not have everyone talking to the people so they can get on with their lives. But I have talked to the resident staff, and they are doing OK. I’ve had a couple parents call, and I’ve talked to them. We are always concerned when we have to disrupt students’ lives. It’s bad timing with midterms; the only thing worse would be finals. When you think about the fire in Larch [last year], it was just devastating. It was bad timing, and they couldn’t take their things with them. At least these people could have their belongings.

One of your goals was to raise awareness about alcohol abuse in the ISU community. How have you progressed on that issue?

That’s a tough one. When you talk in terms about educating people about alcohol, that’s not only just the students, it’s the community. Probably [during] the last 10 years, people who have started developing problems, the ones that do have alcohol problems, start when they’re freshmen. There’s been a lot more going on in the high schools before they get here. That has been a major change.

I’ve been to … meetings, a variety of clubs and organizations, and I also talk with staff members about it.

What types of changes can we expect in 1999-2001 student handbook?

That’s an interesting topic. Periodically, every four or five years we review the handbook. There have been some changes in the Iowa code, and there have just been changes in the law.

One of the things that will be interesting to see is not directly related to the student handbook, but student fees. We’re kind of waiting to see as far as legal issues, while the university sorts out their philosophical issues [whether] we want to use our student [fees] as openly as possible or are we going to take a more conservative stance. Those discussions are just beginning.

I think we need to look at the judicial process — it hasn’t been reviewed in a number of years, and just make sure it is clear and concise so people can understand it. It will be much easier to follow and understand than it has been in the past.

How is the search coming along for the new assistant dean of students?

Actually, we have just finished interviewing the three candidates for the assistant dean of students, and I’m hoping to announce very soon. We interviewed three people, and I’ve been getting all the evaluation forms in. It should be announced either this week or early next week and [I] hope this person will come soon.

What is something you would like to let students know about the Dean of Students Office?

One of the really important things about the Dean of Students Office is that students can know that we’re here to help them figure things out. If you have a question and you don’t know where to go, the Dean of Students Office is a place where we’re helping to solve things.

Lots of students have the impression that the dean of students is a discipline person. I do rarely any of that. My job really is to work with students. This year, I’m the United Way chair, and this year, we’re trying to start a United Way tradition with the students. So we’ve asked all the student organizations to give us reps.