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Ensuring
a civil community
Elmore returns to University as new dean of students
By David J. Craig
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Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore Photo by Kalman Zabarsky |
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As an attorney at a Boston law firm until recently, Kenneth Elmore counseled
colleges and universities on matters that he had an unusual amount of
experience in for a lawyer. A former associate director of BU’s
Office of Residence Life, Elmore has a deep personal interest in the
legal aspects of academic, employment, and student life issues as well,
and to his clients, that showed.
“My clients often would say things like, ‘I really enjoy
talking to this guy because he really understands what we do, and he’s
passionate about looking out for our interests,’” says Elmore.
His
career came full circle recently when he returned to BU as the new dean
of students. Before Elmore (SED’87) left the University in
2001 to practice law, he had served as an associate director at Residence
Life for 12 years. He succeeds W. Norman Johnson, who was BU’s
vice president and dean of students for 14 years before retiring this
summer.
“I put a great amount of soul-searching into my decision to
return to BU because I was really enjoying my law career, but this opportunity
was too good to pass up,” says Elmore. “I’m glad to
be back working with so many colleagues I have missed and the many I’ve
kept in close contact with. I think all my colleagues at BU know that
in my heart I’ve always loved the challenges of the administrative
processes at a university and that eventually I would want to return.”
Building
a community
The dean of students is responsible for overseeing
more than 350 student organizations and directing the student services
and programs of
such departments as the Office of Residence Life, the Office of Career
Services,
the George Sherman Union, Orientation and Off-Campus Services, Judicial
Affairs, Multicultural Affairs, and the Community Service Center.
In addition, the staff of the dean of students is available to assist
students with a wide variety of concerns and questions.
“In the most general sense, the purpose of my office is
to lead the campus programs that enhance the academic, social, occupational,
intellectual,
cultural, and ethical development of our students,” says Elmore,
who besides earning a master’s in education from SED is a graduate
of Brown University and the New England School of Law. “This
University is a community of scholars first and foremost, and my role
is to support its academic mission by ensuring that BU also is a civil
community. My goal is to be the person who makes sure students understand
the tenets of community behavior so that they can be as successful
outside the classroom as they are in it.”
Elmore says he will
aim to increase contact between students and faculty by encouraging
faculty participation in programs such as those run
by the Wellness Center, the Howard Thurman Center, and the Career Services
Center, as well as to facilitate more contact between his staff members
and students outside of the office.
“It’s important that students know that my staff is here for them
when they’ve got an issue they need help with,” says Elmore. “We’re
here to listen to whatever a student’s issue is, investigate it,
and do our best to find a professional at the University who can help,
if we can’t help ourselves. Towards that goal, we’ll work
closely with the University Service Center. I want students to look at
the Office of the Dean of Students as a place not only where they can
get information, but where the staff truly cares about them. Students
should not feel expendable.”
Face-to-face
Elmore has had extensive personal contact
with students, and is “continually
impressed with how articulate and sophisticated they are.” He wants
to make himself accessible, and to that end has initiated informal chat
sessions open to all students, which he will host from 2 to 4 p.m. every
Friday this semester. They will be held at a different location each
week; the October 3 session is on the fourth floor of Warren Towers at
700 Commonwealth Ave., and the October 10 session is in the Franklin
Lounge of the Towers at 140 Bay State Road. Students are invited to stop
by to discuss any ideas they have about campus life or simply to say
hello.
“In the contact I’ve had with students so far, they really seem
to know what they want, and are willing to listen as well,” says
Elmore. “Every one of them wants this campus to be the best place
it can be.”
Currently, he also is conducting a semester-long review
of all his office’s
departments to ensure that their programs are user-friendly for students.
Elmore
was the associate director for education and training at the Office of
Residence Life from 1989 to 1993 and the associate director for staff
and operations from 1993 to 2001. He has practiced law in Boston for
the past two years, first at the law firm of Peabody and Arnold, and
subsequently at Morgan, Brown, and Joy, handling primarily labor and
employment issues at colleges, universities, and nonprofit institutions.
Just
as his BU administration experience helped him as an attorney, Elmore
says, his legal background makes him an efficient dean, especially when
consulting with the University’s Office of the General Counsel
and in overseeing the Office of Judicial Affairs. “I think that
my experience as a lawyer will help me know what types of questions to
ask the University’s lawyers when I consult them,” he says, “and
to know exactly when I should be getting them involved on an issue.”
Elmore
says that Jack Weldon, the director of BU’s Office of Residence
Life for the past 13 years, was chosen recently as the new associate
dean of students, a position vacated this summer when Herb Ross resigned.
Ross had been with the University for 27 years, 16 as associate vice
president and associate dean of students.
“Jack is, hands down, the best person for the job,” says Elmore. “He’s
got a wealth of experience, he’s incredibly respected around BU,
he works hard, and he’s got a lot of common sense.” Weldon
will supervise several departments overseen by the Office of the Dean
of Students.
Elmore, who lives with his family in Lexington, is an avid
basketball fan and loves to read and attend lectures. He coaches youth
basketball
and hockey, and volunteers for several education-related nonprofit organizations
and community development agencies.
3
October 2003
Boston University
Office of University Relations