STUDENTS AFFAIRS TROUBLESHOOTER DEPARTS; SMITH RETURNS TO UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS FOLLOWING RESTRUCTURING WORK AT SOUTHEAST

Mission accomplished. That sums up Caryl Smith's brief tenure at Southeast Missouri State University.

Smith came to Southeast Missouri State last fall as interim vice president of student affairs. Her task: restructure student services and help hire a permanent vice president of student affairs.

That mission accomplished, Smith is packing up to return to her position as vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of student life at the University of Kansas at Lawrence.

Smith expects to wrap up her duties at Southeast today and head back to Kansas Thursday.

When she arrived on campus a year ago, Smith saw some immediate problems with Southeast's student services.

Smith a friend of Southeast's president, Kala Stroup says bluntly that she wouldn't have been hired had there not been problems.

"When I arrived, it certainly appeared to me and to many other people that services to students were very fragmented, not well coordinated," she said.

New-student relations, for example, reported to the university relations office; admissions were under the supervision of the provost's office; financial aid was in the finance and administration division.

"That's the most extreme examples of how things were fragmented," she recalled.

The result, she said, was a lack of coordinated leadership in student affairs.

"In a number of segments of the university, student affairs was not held in high regard," said Smith. "I thought student affairs had very little credibility with at least some parts of the university."

Administrative changes at the university had left student affairs in some disarray. "There were a lot of things that had fallen in the cracks," she said.

Smith went about restructuring student affairs to include everything from student recruitment to admissions, and health services to services for international students.

Smith said all university departments touch students in some way. Students are the reason universities exist, she said. "We are still here to work with students."

It's important, she said, for student affairs personnel to work with university employees in other operating divisions. "I've really tried to encourage all people in student affairs to build bridges to other parts of the university.

"Student affairs' role," said Smith, "is to help the students succeed."

During her year here, Smith also established an advisory committee of student leaders to provide her with input on student issues.

Smith said she has enjoyed her stay in Cape Girardeau and, in particular, the area's "hospitable people."

"I have really enjoyed the chance to get well acquainted with a different kind of university," she said.

Prior to her stint here, Smith's work in higher education had been basically at the large-institution level.

"I am a richer, more well-rounded, professional person because of this opportunity," she said.

Smith said the job of shaping services to meet the needs of students is an ever-changing one.

"In some ways, I don't think reorganization is ever done," said Smith, "but maybe the big pieces are in place for a while."