A new face will be seen representing Iowa State’s student affairs officein months to come.

Iowa State Professor Dan Robinson will temporarily take over the position of vice president for student affairs, filling the vacancy left by Dr. Tom Thielen.

Thielen, who served as student affairs vice president for more than 20 years, will return to teaching this spring in Higher Education 575. This will be his last semester at ISU and Thielen plans to retire at the end of May.

Recently selected as the interim vice president, Robinson will fulfill the duties of the position for the student affairs office until a permanent replacement can be found. Such responsibilities include over-seeing admissions, recruitment, the Registrar’s Office, financial aid, recreational services, student life, the student counseling center and student health services.

“If you can think across a broad base services that would be available to help students be successful, much of that would be included under a definition of student affairs,” Robinson said.

Current candidates for the position to be filled this fall will be selected by a search committee comprised of Iowa State faculty and staff, students, Ames residents and the mayor of Ames. Advertisements are being circulated around the country regarding the position.

Provost John Kozak is chairing the committee that is searching for Thielen’s permanent replacement. The committee has only recently been assembled, and so far, only one or two applications have been received.

“We’ve already submitted an advertisement to the Chronicle of Higher Education,” Kozak said. “One of the things that’s done at the very outset is to make that information about the position known to as wide a public as possible.”

Kozak added that he would like to motivate committee members to encourage their colleagues, as well as themselves, to be proactive in the search.

“Given the fact we’re considered across the country as a first class institution,” Robinson said, “many people already are aware of the fact that there’s an opportunity here.”

Robinson said he plans to use his time as student affairs vice president to facilitate the many responsibilities of the office, as well as to assist in the search for a permanent replacement.

Either a student or faculty member of Iowa State since 1965, Robinson has been involved in ISU life for more than 30 years. A graduate of Iowa State with degrees in higher education administration and counseling psychology, the interim vice president has held several positions on campus, working in both the student counseling center and the student affairs research office.

Robinson also served as Thielen’s assistant for a short time before working with Virgil Lagomarcino as the assistant dean of the College of Education. He spent time working with international higher education and eventually became a department chair.

The search process is not new to Robinson. Iowa State has only had two vice presidents for student affairs, Thielen being the second.

His duties over the next few months will mean that Robinson will leave the classroom, and he said he is looking forward to getting back to teaching.

“I teach about nine different courses on rotation. Two each semester,” he said. “The courses are primarily in the area of higher education and administration.”

Some goals Robinson said he has for his tenure as student affairs vice president would be to continue many of the things Thielen regularly dealt with, including the on-going recruitment of students.

Other topics of concern include budgetary issues and the many different factors affecting the climate of student concerns on campus.

The search committee plans to meet again today to discuss changes in campus personnel. Kozak said the committee is looking for a person who has the background and experience that would permit him or her to successfully carry out the responsibilities of the vice president for student affairs.

“My goal is to facilitate that process and to get to a point where the president has two or three candidates [from which] he can decide which best fits Iowa State,” Kozak said.