Dan Heuchert

Patricia Lampkin

Lampkin to focus on future of student life

Staff Report

Patricia Lampkin, associate vice president for student affairs, will begin a year-long assignment this summer to examine the student experience at the University and envision what it should look like in the year 2020.

President John T. Casteen III asked Lampkin to develop long-range priorities and aspirations for this key University area. To do this, she will work closely with student groups, prospective and current students, faculty, administrators and alumni. In addition, she will become the student advocate with the University's Virginia 2020 planning commissions, responsible for making sure that the student experience, both in and out of the classroom, is well-coordinated through each of the planning initiative's five areas: the arts, international activities, public service, science and technology, and athletics.

"The aim is to make sure we are looking at who we are and who we want to be from a student perspective during this process," Casteen said. "Pat Lampkin is the right person to lead this effort because of her known organizational skills, her years of intense student involvement and her wealth of knowledge about the University community."

Lampkin, who has been in her present post since 1995, joined the University in 1979, serving in a number of capacities, including associate director of student services, assistant dean of students and associate dean of students.

"It is unfortunate to lose Pat's involvement from the day-to-day operation,² said William W. Harmon, vice president for Student Affairs. "But the University and our students will benefit from the accomplishments of this critical University responsibility."

A number of Student Affairs functions that now report to Lampkin -- including the Office of Financial Aid, the Career Services Office, and the responsibility for compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act -- will be reassigned, Harmon said. In addition, she will remain as the chair of SESPOG, the Student Enrollment Services Process Owners Group, one of the two main groups in the Process Simplification structure.

"I look on this as an exciting opportunity," Lampkin said. "We will be able to step back and look at what it is we think is valuable about our present student experience and to ask ourselves some important questions about its future. We will have the chance to begin to create the best student experience in higher education."