The Role and Responsibilities of the Dean of Students at TCU
The Dean of Students office plays a vital role in ensuring a positive and successful experience for every student at Texas Christian University (TCU). This office acts as a central hub, connecting students, faculty, staff, parents, and family members to resources and support systems that enhance their collegiate journey. The Dean of Students office is committed to supporting student success and enhancing the collegiate experience. This article delves into the responsibilities of the Dean of Students, the resources available, and the office's overall contribution to the TCU community.
Core Functions of the Dean of Students Office
The Dean of Students Office at TCU provides support for the many religious communities, beliefs, and traditions that flourish on campus. The office is also here to nurture the spiritual life of each and every member of the TCU Horned Frog community. The Dean of Students Office addresses a wide range of student needs and concerns. If a faculty or staff member is concerned about a student, they are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office. Concerns from faculty and staff members often revolve around excessive class absences and/or performance on major assignments. The office partners with the TCU Counseling & Mental Health Center to provide faculty and staff training about recognizing and responding to distressed students.
The Dean of Students Office is responsible for:
- Student Support and Advocacy: Providing guidance, support, and resources to students navigating academic, personal, or social challenges.
- Community Standards and Conduct: Upholding the TCU Code of Student Conduct and addressing violations through fair and educational processes.
- Crisis Intervention: Responding to student emergencies, providing support, and connecting students with appropriate resources.
- Liaison and Collaboration: Serving as a point of contact and collaborator between students, faculty, staff, and external resources.
- Policy Guidance: Overseeing the policies and procedures section of the Student Handbook containing information on academic policies, university regulations, students’ rights and responsibilities, and Office of Institutional Equity policies and procedures.
Key Areas of Responsibility
Student Conduct and Community Standards
The Dean of Students Office is responsible for administering the TCU Code of Student Conduct. Any member of the University community may make a complaint against any student for misconduct that violates the Code. The accused student has the right to a formal hearing before a conduct panel (excluding alcohol and community standards violations). The student has the right to a hearing which should elicit information from both sides. They are to be furnished a list of names of accusers and witnesses and a statement of facts they testified to if the accused does not face his/her accusers. However, because of the close proximity in which students live and interact on campus, it is sometimes necessary to protect the anonymity of a witness or accuser. The student has the right to remain silent about any incident in which s/he is a suspect. Any student has a right to appeal the decision and/or the sanctions assigned to them. Any student has the right to an advocate.
The office addresses violations of the Code of Conduct through an educational and restorative process. Conduct records are educational records protected by FERPA. The Dean of Students office ensures that students understand their rights and responsibilities as members of the TCU community. No, violations of the Code of Conduct are not considered criminal charges.
Read also: Role of the Dean of Students
Absence Verification and Support
The Dean of Students Office plays a vital role in managing student absences, particularly those related to official university activities or active military service. Faculty/staff who wish to have an activity sanctioned for Official University Absence status must submit the names of all students, including date and hours absent from campus, to the Dean of Students Office no later than one week prior to the date of the activity. In accordance with Texas Education Code Section 51.9111 Excused Absence for Active Military Service, when a student is called into active military service, including travel associated with that service, an institution of higher education shall excuse the student from attending classes or engaging in other required activities, including exams. The student may not be penalized for the absence and shall be allowed to complete assignments and exams within a reasonable time after the absence. The Dean of Students can assist students with verifying the excused absence by collecting and storing appropriate documentation and then notifying the student’s professors. Faculty are encouraged to work with the student to help them satisfactorily complete assignments and exams within a reasonable time. Faculty retain all discretion for consideration of a student’s absence if the absence does not fall within the Official University Absence Policy. The student has had excessive absences in class.
Dean's Verification Forms
If you are applying to graduate school or a study abroad program, you may be informed that you need to have a Dean’s Verification form completed. If your school has provided a form for completion, please sign the form in the appropriate location and deliver it to the Dean of Student’s Office. You may have concerns about what impact your conduct records may have on your application.
Resources and Support for Students
The TCU Experience section of the Student Handbook provides resources and suggestions on how to get involved on campus, live in the TCU community, and manage challenging situations. The Dean of Students Office is a central point of contact for students seeking assistance with a variety of issues. The office provides support for the many religious communities, beliefs, and traditions that flourish on campus. The office is also here to nurture the spiritual life of each and every member of the TCU Horned Frog community. The mission of Student Activities is to endear students to TCU through irresistible events and experiential leadership opportunities. Our staff wants our students to be entertained, challenged, comforted, and to make connections with other students across the campus. In collaboration with the TCU community, Student Activities focuses on providing personal and professional development that complements each student’s academic experience.
Leadership and Experiential Learning
Leadership & Experiential Learning - We work alongside students to help them discover who they are by exploring their values, interests, and skills through leadership development and community engagement. The mission of the office of TCU Student Organizations is to promote involvement that offers leadership development, social, cultural and educational programming.
The award-winning Model United Nations program at TCU is a joint program of Leadership and Student Involvement and the Department of Political Science. It provides students the opportunity to simulate the workings of the United Nations as representatives of the U.N. member-states. In their capacity as delegates to model U.N. conferences, students research the policies of their designated country on a variety of topics, including international trade and development, terrorism, international conflict, weapons of mass destruction, human rights, and the environment.
Read also: Georgia State University Dean
Student Activities and Engagement
Student Activities aims to foster social responsibility and lifelong learning through community-based partnerships. Information and materials are available to guide groups and individuals in planning, implementing and reflecting upon service experiences. Since 1897, the student-run Horned Frog Yearbook has been recording TCU’s history. Students gain leadership experience and portfolio-building opportunities through their work on the annual publication. While experience is helpful, it is not required, to join the yearbook staff. As an independently-led, student-run publication all majors are welcome.
The Broader University Context
Understanding the role of the Dean of Students also requires understanding the broader organizational structure of TCU. The Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the University. The Chancellor’s Cabinet includes key leaders who oversee various aspects of the university's operations. The Dean of Students, while not explicitly listed as a cabinet member in the provided text, collaborates with other departments and leaders within the university to support student success.
University Advancement consists of five departments: 1. Development, 2. 3. Donor Relations, 4. Alumni Relations, and 5. Advancement Operations. Office of Athletic Development raises funds for programs and projects in athletics, including facilities. Office of Donor Relations is responsible for the recognition and stewardship of TCU’s donors. Financial Services safeguards current and short term (reserve and working capital) assets of the University.
The Importance of Completion and Support
Over the past 15 years, the national narrative in higher education has shifted from one focused on access to a dual focus on access and completion. As institutions have implemented initiatives to increase student success, completion of postsecondary education has slowly increased, with 47 percent of Americans aged 25 to 64 holding a credential beyond high school, up nine percentage points since 2008.
In the United States, the income of one’s parents remains one of the top predictors of whether one will make it into the middle class and whether one will attend college. Two-thirds of the 6.9 million students who attend community colleges qualify as low-income, coming from families earning less than $50,000 per year, and more than one-third live below the poverty line. Most work either full or part time. Further, gaps along racial lines remain stubbornly wide, with six-year completion rates for Asian students and white students far higher than those for Hispanic students, American Indian/Alaska Native students, and Black students. Source: Completing college: A national view of student completion rates - Fall 2011 cohort (signature report no.
Read also: More on student leadership
For Tribal communities, higher education provides the opportunity to continue to build strong Nations, as the Native population under 18 years old is nearly a third of the total Native population. Not only does education attainment provide for a more skilled workforce, but it also enriches tribal economies with entrepreneurs, job creation and economic development in Indian Country. More specifically, TCUs provide native “identity-affirming” learning environments, rooted in Indigenous ways of thought, language and culture that serve their communities beyond earning a credential and a better job. TCUs are contributing to Nation building of their tribal communities. Yet, the array of challenges awaiting lower-income or first-generation students and other historically underserved Native students are pervasive and generational. Many students, particularly those attending TCUs, face a daily struggle to pay for food, housing, child care, health care, and transportation along with tuition and fees. In addition to these financial obstacles to success, many students enter college to find that navigating the college’s processes, policies, and culture formidable.
Through the efforts of the 19 community colleges in the Working Students Success Network (WSSN) and the 36 two-year and four-year institutions in the Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) learning initiatives, we have come to see that enhancing and integrating student supports is central to student success. Helping more students achieve their dreams involves identifying a wider set of student needs-including financial challenges and family responsibilities-and offering redesigned support services to meet them holistically. This toolkit provides evidence-based, practitioner-tested tools, tips, and guides to aid TCUs in their planning and execution of a more personal, seamless, and comprehensive support experience that fully equips students to learn and to succeed in achieving their goals.
A Legacy of Dedication: The Example of Dr. Kay Higgins
The impact of the Dean of Students Office is perhaps best exemplified by the career of Dr. Kay Higgins, who retired from TCU. Dr. Higgins's 43-year career at TCU demonstrates the profound impact one individual can have on the lives of students. She has filled multiple roles at the university and seen what began as a part-time job in the housing office morph into a successful career. Her dedication and love for students and faculty alike will be treasured, even as her time on campus comes to a close. “I get consistently good feedback from our parents saying that they love working with Dr. Higgins because she ‘gets’ college-age students,” said Chancellor Victor Boschini. “To say I am sad she is leaving would be an understatement. She is retiring knowing, without a doubt, that she made a tangible difference in the lives of literally thousands of TCU students, past and present.”
Higgins arrived on campus in 1977 planning to earn a master’s degree in religious studies from the Brite Divinity School. A part-time job working in housing took her in a different direction. Within a year she was working as a full-time area coordinator, coordinating with hall directors and RAs - a role she held for 16 years. Higgins said she loved working hands-on and supporting all students and faculty. She was constantly seeking out ways to better the experiences for not only the students but for her team members and coworkers alike. “There are many former hall directors who will tell you that Kay’s mentorship was vital in helping them be successful,” said Dr. Don Mills, a distinguished professor of educational leadership. Mills, whose been at TCU since 1972, is a former director of housing, associate dean of students and longtime work colleague of Higgins. “Many of those who prospered under Kay’s guidance have themselves gone on to successful careers in student affairs,” said Mills. While Higgins enjoyed her time in housing, she was always “looking for other playgrounds to play in.” The position of director of new student orientation was one that Higgins had seen filled multiple times over the years and one she felt ready to take on. “So, I finished out my housing role and became the director of new student orientations, which I did for 16 years,” Higgins said. “When Don became vice chancellor of student affairs in 1994, my role was moved to Student Development Services.” When Higgins joined SDS, it directed five organizations - now there are nearly 300. While working in SDS, Higgins also became the first director of what is now the Gender Resource Office to support and encourage women to grow during their time on campus. Higgins has always had a strong passion for women’s success, especially on the college campus. She utilized her leadership position to ensure the success and stability of this campus’s resources.
Higgins was born and raised in Georgia and attended Mercer University, a small school in Macon, Georgia. Coming from a campus with roughly 500 total students in each class, Higgins said that when she first arrived in Fort Worth she “thought this place was bigger than New York City.” While to Higgins the school was notable and prominent, to the city of Fort Worth it was just another cluster of buildings. Higgins said it best, saying at the time TCU was the “untapped Texas secret.” Back then, Higgins would get calls from parents who lived less than 15 minutes from campus, but had no idea where the campus was. This integration of the campus and the city was not something that came easy but rather something the people had to work hard to bring about. “Now, TCU is such a dynamic party of the economy, of the city and the culture and in infusion of people from around the world,” said Higgins. With the building of that community relationship, cultural and geographic diversity became another priority for TCU, Higgins said. “The intention to diversify was very, very specific and calculated,” Higgins said. “Because ultimately, the more diverse an institution is, the better education every student will receive, as long as students are open to learning from others.”
Higgins’s dedication and work, which was largely behind the scenes, never went unnoticed. “At TCU we pride ourselves on being a connected campus. Kay took that responsibility seriously: helping students who were struggling, identifying new ways to support students, mentoring staff and being 100% pro-student. Kay is what it means to be a true ‘Horned Frog’,” Mills said. Along with Mills and Higgins, one other person who has been at TCU since the early 1980s is a long-time friend and colleague, Mary Ruth Jones. Jones, who is also retiring this year, said TCU will be losing a special and devoted colleague. “I have known Kay Higgins since 1985 when I went to work as the admin in the TCU Housing office, we worked together and became good friends,” said Jones. “Kay is a dedicated leader and motivator and even though she is retiring she will still be a part of TCU.” Even though her career at TCU is ending, Higgins has no plans of slowing down. “I always find myself wanting to get into more philanthropy work, but because there are only so many hours in the day, I find myself saying ‘no’ a lot,” said Higgins. “So after I nap for two months, I am going to work trying to make what contribution I can to Fort Worth and to TCU!” As Mills said, even though Higgins didn’t attend TCU, she is just as much a Horned Frog as any student on campus.
Copyright Compliance
Unauthorized duplication of copyrighted works, such as books, movies, photographs, video games, music and software, is a violation of federal copyright law. TCU supports strict compliance with federal laws regarding copyright infringement. TCU does not monitor what pages a student views while connected to the TCU Network. Notices of Copyright Infringement are provided to TCU by the owner of the material. These notices inform TCU that a user connected to the TCU Network has violated federal copyright infringement laws. to the relevant user.
tags: #TCU #Dean #of #Students #responsibilities
