Fordham University’s 2024 spring semester arrives with the long-awaited appointment of a new vice president of student affairs: Michele Burris. After initial screenings and two rounds of elimination, Burris was selected by President Tania Tetlow from a final shortlist of four candidates. She has over 35 years of experience in Jesuit higher education, most of which have been spent at Fordham. During her time here, Burris has filled several roles, including dean of Residential Life, dean of students and associate vice president of student affairs. Most recently, she has served as interim vice president of student affairs over the last seven months. The decision comes after a nearly semester-long, nationwide search led by Vice President for Mission Integration and Ministry John Cecero, S.J.
The vice president of student affairs is responsible for acting as a liaison for student concerns to university administration and the President’s Cabinet, where student needs will be attended to by the university at large. The role, as Burris explains, is inherently collaborative: “It is collaborative with other areas of the university… Things that I’m looking at are real collaboration with the Provost’s Office, Academic Affairs [and] faculty so that the life inside the classroom is connected to life outside the classroom.”
Burris steps into her new role after seven months as interim vice president of student affairs after former Vice President Dr. Jeffrey Gray retired last spring. She was previously the associate vice president of student affairs at Rose Hill — a role she maintained alongside her appointment as interim vice president. “The associate vice president role was the person assisting Mr. Gray as vice president in managing the division of student affairs,” she said. The role involved supervising Fordham’s deans of students and training staff across the university.
Throughout her seven months as interim vice president, Burris maintained strong priorities relating to student support while simultaneously entering the nationwide search for a new permanent vice president. “I was really honored when President Tetlow asked me to serve as the interim vice president… It was like on-the-job interviewing for seven months,” she recalled. At the same time, it was important to her that she continued prioritizing connecting with students and honoring their priorities even while performing both roles of associate vice president and interim vice president. “I tried to come into the role saying, ‘I’m going to do this job to the best of my ability and do my best to go through the search process and be successful in getting the job,’ and so it was important to me… that I didn’t just serve as an interim and just tread water.”
In listening sessions held last fall, faculty members and students alike were able to voice their concerns and priorities to the search committee. Father Cecero, head of the search committee, noted, “we were able to include really all of the major constituents of Fordham in conversation primarily in groups… We had certain groups of students, we had groups of people who work in student affairs, we had faculty, we had groups of administrators and that was all in the process of honing in on what we were looking for.” Among student concerns were mental health services, campus dining and equal attention paid to both Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses.
Cecero believes that Burris is attentive to these concerns, demonstrating these both in action and administrative planning. In regards to student concerns such as equal attention being paid to both campuses, he notes that Burris makes a point to spend equal time at both campuses throughout the week and attend student club and organization meetings herself instead of calling a meeting with them.
