After 17 years at this university and 10 years in the Office of Student Conduct, Andrea Goodwin is ready to assume her biggest leadership position yet — director of the Office of Student Conduct.
Goodwin, who most recently served as associate director of student conduct, will officially take over as the director Sept. 6. Now charged with leading the university’s student judicial office and overseeing contentious policies such as Good Samaritan, Goodwin’s new position will largely center around working directly with students.
Goodwin said some of her initiatives will include reorganizing the office to manage the large caseload of student judiciary cases and strengthening the department’s relationship with colleges and student groups.
“We want to get the University Student Judiciary and staff members in student conduct to have a more public face and solicit some feedback from students so I know what’s on students’ minds,” Goodwin said. “We want to make sure they understand the rules and regulations and that we exist.”
Former director John Zacker left the position at the start of this month to assume the role of Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs — yet another in a string of administrative turnovers this year.
After Zacker announced his departure in June, university officials assembled a national search committee to find his replacement. Zacker said Goodwin’s wealth of experience in the department set her apart from the pack of applicants.
“She’s got a breadth of experience that contributes to her likely success in the position,” he said, adding that her experience covered “both academic and non-academic conduct.”
Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement, who served on the search committee, said Goodwin’s years in the office will translate to a successful transition.
“I think she understands the system here and understands the university and was able to be as articulate as she was about the issues from so much experience,” Clement said.
Goodwin said one of her biggest initiatives will be expanding student outreach and incorporating suggestions from students, faculty and staff around the campus.
“I’ll continue what Dr. Zacker started: working with our staff and working with our students,” she said. “I’m very open to new ideas.”
Clement also said it is an exciting time for the university, since there were very few administrative changes until this year. Over this summer alone, nearly half a dozen administrative positions have been filled and those still vacant are expected to be filled in the coming year.
“I think any time leadership changes hands and there is a transition, you bring a fresh set of eyes to the issue and they look at the position in a new and different way, and that’s always a valuable thing to happen,” Clement said. “Up until our change in president, it’s been pretty much the same leadership so we’ll see some really different things happen.”
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