Student Affairs Restructuring Emphasizes Learning, Collaboration, Retention and Emergency Operations

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Mary Alice Serafini

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – New alignments in the University of Arkansas Division of Student Affairs will help emphasize student learning and retention, and emergency operations.

Mary Alice Serafini, whose former title was assistant vice chancellor for student affairs and director of the Pat Walker health Center, has been named assistant vice provost for student affairs and executive director of the Pat Walker Health Center.

“Mary Alice will have primary divisional responsibility for advancing retention and student learning,” said Danny Pugh, vice provost for student affairs and dean of students. “She is uniquely qualified to steward the efforts of student affairs in this area and will work closely with Karen Hodges, the executive director of academic success.”

Serafini is excited by the opportunity. “I am very pleased to be a campus partner in impacting the success of students in their journeys to their University of Arkansas degrees,” Serafini said. “Our mission is to assure students of a solid, unique and valuable experience at the University of Arkansas.”

As part of the changes in organizational structure, A.J. Olsen has been named director of medical services at the Pat Walker Health Center. Olsen has been leading the migration from paper to electronic medical records at the health center over the last year. “With her excellent skills in health information, human resources and quality improvement, the medical providers, nurses, laboratory and other health center staff can focus on their clinical responsibilities,” Serafini said.

Olsen looks forward to her new duties. “These new responsibilities will allow me to collaborate more with other departments and divisions in the university as well as having more time with students,” Olsen said. “I love the fast-paced and multifaceted aspects of this new position.”

As part of the restructuring of departments in student affairs, Aisha Kenner, the associate dean of students, assumes oversight of the Center for Educational Access in addition to the departments of First Year Experience, Community Standards and Student Ethics, and the university’s ombuds office.

“This new alignment will provide offices that have much in common, in their desire and passion for serving students, the opportunity to collaboratively address student concerns in a comprehensive manner,” Kenner said. “This structure allows these areas to surround students with staff, programs and services that will benefit the students on a number of developmental levels.”

Center for Educational Access staff members are pleased with this new alignment. “Kenner has developed strong relationships with many academic departments over the past few years, which will greatly assist in our efforts to guide and facilitate disability-related classroom accommodations,” said Anne Jannarone, director of the center. “Being more closely aligned with units that regularly work with faculty will provide more opportunity for discussion and campuswide collaboration on ways to maximize the accessibility of academic programs and campus activities.”

Kenner also holds divisional responsibility for emergency operations planning in student affairs. She has been the chair of the campus’ version of a behavioral intervention team, known as RazorCAT since its inception.

“Kenner is well-respected on campus and nationally for her work with behavioral intervention and crisis management.  She is perfectly suited to guide the division in campus-based emergencies and to ensure that our efforts are appropriately aligned with the university’s emergency operations plan,” said Pugh.  “She is the ground coordinator who communicates with campus leadership who are part of the emergency operations center during a campus emergency.”