Over the summer, a new Associate Dean of Student Academic Life was chosen- Lisa Breslin. For many years, Breslin was the director of the Writing Center, which I am sure many of you have gone to for help on papers and various other writing related projects. So, here is a little background information about our new Dean.
Breslin received her Bachelor’s degree in English and Teacher’s certification from Colorado College. She then received her Master’s degree from the University of Indiana. Coming form a big family, Breslin attributes some of her mediation skills to this fact. In June, Breslin was offered her new position and fully became the Dean in August.
Some of you may be wondering what exactly the Associate Dean of Student Academic Life does. Well, the answer to that is fairly simple. The Dean is the person who works with upper-class students to help them work out the demands of the College. The Dean also supports faculty and staff in resolving academic issues as they are presented.
Although having left the Writing Center, Breslin states that she will still continue to be in touch with the Writing Center consultants and the people who work there.
“Any mother will tell you that your babies are never completely grown up,” says Breslin.
Being the former director of the Writing Center, she said that she never truly left the program mainly because of the constant contact that she has with all the people who work there.
Additionally, Breslin was the beloved advisor of the McDaniel Free Press, and she still continues to stay in touch with the staff.
Because of how comfortable and safe her old position was, Breslin stated that there was some hesitation on accepting the new job as Dean: “It’s similar to a kid moving away from his childhood home and coming to a new home, new school.”
Although in the end, she says that she loves her new “family” and is glad to be still near her old family.
“I enjoy the shake up and unpredictability of the day,” says Breslin.
With her new position, Breslin has a lot of aspirations of what she wants to do to be more proactive. She wants to move away from the idea that coming to see her is a bad thing due to “screwing up.”
To help with this, she started some new programs, the first being “Dinner with the Dean.” This event is where Breslin invites group of students, such as the commuters, to her own home to have dinner with her and her husband.
With these new programs, Breslin hopes to help students connect with each other and create lasting relationships.
Not only is Breslin trying to get the students to connect more with each other but she hopes to help get the various departments on campus connect as well.
Besides being the Dean, Breslin still has many other projects that she works on such as the Summer Academic Enrichment Program (SAEP). This program helps prepare rising seniors from underprivileged high schools in Washington, D.C. prepare for college. This program helps out the students in many ways to help improve them for the future.
To the ever-busy Dean Breslin, our new Associate Dean of Student Academic Life, we wish you the best of success.
