By Laura Sanicola

In the latest staffing change for the Office of Student Involvement, Alexandra Kearney, assistant director of student affairs, stepped down from her position earlier this month. She has taken a position at the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. Her former responsibilities will be shared by various members of the Office of Student Involvement in the interim, according to Cody Arcuri, assistant dean of student involvement.
The search for a new assistant director is already underway.

“We are currently actively reviewing applications and will be interviewing candidates to fill the Assistant Director for Student Organizations and Programming position shortly,” said Arcuri.

Arcuri said the office is working to fill her position “as quickly as possible” so that the new candidate is hired before the start of the spring semester. Kearney was the third assistant director hired in three years, tasked with the job of overseeing more than 130 Fordham clubs and organizations on campus. She began working at Fordham in October 2015 following the departure of former Assistant Director Shannon Driscoll. Jennifer Lackie, who served as assistant director prior to Driscoll, moved into a new role of Director for the Transition Year Experience in August 2013.

The Office of Student Involvement has experienced a marked increase in growth of registered clubs and their programming efforts in recent years. Student organization programming shot up 107 percent between 2010-2015. The number of club programming grew from 1,702 to 3,531 in that time span, former dean of Student Involvement Alanna Nolan told United Student Government last year. The number of active registered clubs and organizations on Rose Hill’s campus has increased 64 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to Nolan.

The Office of Student Involvement has also undergone various structural and personnel changes in the past year. Nolan, who spent five years as dean, left her post in April 2016 to take up a position at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as Senior University Relations and Programs Specialist. The Office of Student Involvement also rebranded its title from The Office of Student Leadership and Development (OSLCD) in an effort to make the department more representative of its functionality.

In September, the university hired Monique Dumaine, a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, as Student Organizations and Engagement Specialist. The position was created in order to provide additional support for the growing number of clubs.
Clubs are in the process of filling out operations packets to ensure operation for the coming semester.