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Show PERSONALITY 4 the acting dean. Catching CALLIE JUNGEMANN STAFF REPORTER While Mark Feme is out for a Semester at Sea, Karnell Black has stepped in to serve as acting dean of students during spring semester. With five years of work at Westminster under his belt, Black has contributed to the college in numerous ways due to his variety of positions, which include work at Student Involvement, Lead-- , ership and Orientation; the Counseling Center; the Diversity and Inclusion Center; Residence Life and Spiritual Life. Black will be acting dean of students during the spring graduation ceremony, as well. His office is located in the Dean of Students Office in the Shaw Student Center. Watch the full interview with Black at wcforummedia.com. Q: What was your first thought when you found out that you would he acting dean? A: Im still going to get my sleep in, cause I am all about getting my seven to eight hours of sleep in every night. But to be honest, I think the first thing thought was, This is going to be an awesome responsibility. Im going to learn a lot. Im going to learn a lot from folks around campus. I also think I was really excited about the opportunity to create positive change in a role that I havent been able to be in until now. Q: What do you want to implement or try to make happen this semester? A: One of the things that Im working direcon is working with the tors for whats called a mapping tool for faculty, staff and students, so that they can really map their undergraduate experience of all the different options that exist for ways with Karnell up that they can get en- gaged to actually connect with their own needs. Also, for the student affairs area specifically, I am going to be leading our priorities for student engagement and student value within our division. Also, just wanting to create an awesome undergraduate experience for our students. Q: What has been the biggest challenge youve faced so far as acting dean? A: My day is a lot of meetings, and so the other part of it is when do I actually get time to do the stuff that I said I was actually going to do in the meetings? I feel like its being a student all over again at times because you go to class all day and then you have to go home and do homework. I think one of the difficulties, as well (and Im learning to say a lot more) is sometimes I just have to say, No, which isnt always the popular thing to say. But its about balancing all the things that are going on in the role. Q: What surprised you most about the role of dean of students? A: I think what has been surprising is that things get done quicker. I have reminded myself to remind people that I dont need something until x, y, z. Folks would always get things to me in a very reasonable time or if I ask for something, folks would just do it, but now it seems more instantaneous. I think it goes to the role of the dean, too, where lots of things are time sensitive, and so folks know that if the dean is asking for something, they probably need it right away because it may impact some decisions. It may be impacting a student, and thats information thats needed. Q: What does your day in and day out look like? A: Its like youre running all day. Our students really help us run our office here, and one thing Ive communicated to them is to please not schedule anything over my lunch unless you ask, because thats the only time I will get in a day to grab a bite to eat or just sit and do nothing. Whether its a Monday or a Friday, if you were to look at my calendar, Im on the go. I still do volunteer work while doing this job. I volunteer up at the University of Utah advising one of the fraternities. I meet with the students up there on a very regular basis, and so Im still trying to maintain some of the things that I think are really important for me. Q: Do you have any cool hobbies or talents to help take your mind off work? A: I dont have any, but one thing I do (and people probably notice), I like to shop. I dont buy anything full price, and I still get good stuff. Ill find a deal, somehow, some way. I go to the movies every week as my way of relaxing. Me and my partner go to the movies and then there are times when I go to the movies by myself because I actually enjoy going to the movies by myself. People think Im an extrovert, but Im not. Im such an introvert. Even though my job requires me to be an extrovert, it takes a lot of energy to do that. Q: What made you want to get involved with colleges, and why do you want to work with students? A: When I was a freshman in college, I didnt do so well. I failed pretty much all of my classes. I had a 1.67 GPA and I was like, Im much better than this. I was top my class in high school and a smart kid. I remember to this day there were two people in my life at that time who were college administrators who said, Karnell, what is your problem? They were just being real with me. I remember those two made a huge impact in how I knew that I needed to do better. But, I think also part of it too for me was as a kid of color coming from Dallas growing up in the projects, it was about wanting to succeed. I realized that I had an obligation to share my passion and my excitement and my energy to other folks who may be having difficult times and even more specifically for students of color. Im a first generation, as well, so I didnt understand how to navigate college. I thought I was going to go to law school and I completely changed that after my first semester of being a freshman and said, I want to work in higher edu10 in cation. Q: If you could tell students why they can come talk to you, what would you say? A: At the end of the day, the dean of students is there as a person whos going to create a safe environment for our students. And so, sometimes it is the conduct side of things, but for the most part, the dean is just reaching out and checking and trying to make sure folks have a great experience, make sure theyre safe, make sure that if there are things happening that we can advocate for them. My hope is that Ive kind of changed that stigma about what it means to be dean and, at the end of the day, we care. Thats why we do this. Were not doing it to get you in trouble. We care. |