Boardman jumps into role as new dean of students
Former Tulane administrator arrives after eight-month search

BY RAY DELGADO

To say Gregory Boardman's first week as the university's new dean of students was a flurry of activity would be an understatement. His schedule was nearly booked before he even walked in the door for his first day on the job Monday, Feb. 2.

New Dean of Students Gregory Boardman shows off a lucky dollar he received from Rick Yuen, the director of the Asian American Activities Center, during the center’s annual Lunar New Year celebration held last week in Old Union. Boardman visited all six community centers during his first week and was enthusiastically received. Photo: L.A. Cicero

By the end of the week, he had toured every one of the university's six student community centers, attended meetings with student leaders, met with various administration officials, held his first student activity space task force meeting, had an informal dinner with Lower Row students and attended the thrilling men's basketball game against Arizona. In between all of that, he had to find time to figure out how to operate his phone's voicemail and use a Macintosh computer -- no easy task for someone who had worked the same job for the past 15 years.

Senior Sara Bonnell helped shed some light on the Bridge and Mirror programs for Boardman during a meeting with lower row students. Boardman's first week on the job included various meetings with students, student governance groups, community centers and university administrators. He also found time for a little fun, scoring tickets to the down-to-the-wire victory for the men's basketball team over rival Arizona. Photo: L.A. Cicero

"I have a good feeling about the place but I am looking forward to really getting into some meaty discussions with students," said Boardman, the former associate vice president for student affairs at Tulane University. "So far the students I've met have been at meet-and-greet sessions and we haven't really gotten into issues in depth."

To say that the university has been waiting for Boardman's arrival would also be an understatement.

Senior Cheng Wang spoke with Boardman during an evening gathering at the home of Elizabeth Bernhardt, dean of the lower row, last week. Photo: L.A. Cicero

The search for the new dean took nearly a year after former dean Marc Wais announced last January that he would be leaving the university to accept a job as vice president of student affairs at New York University. One round of applications failed to produce a good candidate, so the university hired a search firm to find potential applicants who were well liked at their campuses and who weren't necessarily looking for a job.

"Our search for a dean of students has been an odyssey," said Vice Provost for Student Affairs Gene Awakuni. "Stanford has a real uniqueness that is difficult for people to grasp. We were looking for a very, very good match, if not a perfect fit."

Boardman fit the bill and was almost universally liked by those who interviewed him late last year and those who worked with him in the past. "Everything that people said about Greg was consistent," Awakuni said. "He listens to students very well; he's a great colleague and administrator. He's a wonderful person and he has a good feel about him."

Awakuni also praised the efforts of Chris Griffith, associate dean of graduate student life, who filled the position on an interim basis while the search continued.

Nadiya Figueroa, president of the Associated Students, was part of the search committee for the position and said she was impressed with Boardman's sincerity and enthusiasm, both during the interview process and in interactions she had with him during his first week.

"He seems very genuine and sincere, having seen him at the various events and meetings he attended," Figueroa said. "He also seems very hardworking, and he connects well with people."

Figueroa said Boardman's most pressing issues will be to "keep the ball rolling" on efforts by student groups to secure more meeting and office space and to help find alternate sources of funding for the various student activities that are not fully covered by the current student fee system.

"There have to be alternate sources other than the student fee system," Figueroa said. "It's going to take creative thinking to see where that money comes from."

Boardman said he already has heard about student-space and activity-funding issues, as well as specific gripes from students during casual chats, including one complaint about the high ticket prices for the Big Game. His response, he said, was: "That's something we could take a look at."

Boardman also is uniquely qualified to deal with any proposed changes to Stanford's alcohol policy: He helped to guide Tulane through various controversial changes to its policy as a member of the university's alcohol task force. Although he had to implement unpopular restrictions due to changes in Louisiana law, Boardman said he tried to avoid being perceived as the university alcohol police and made sure that students had a chance to weigh in on the proposals.

"I think it is important that universities communicate and collaborate with students directly when policies directly impact students," Boardman said. "In addition, noninvolvement of students in the process denies them valuable learning opportunities."

Tours of the various community centers throughout the week gave him some insight into a few long-term ideas.

"For some folks there was frustration that there were things on hold because Chris [Griffith] was in there on an interim basis and she was trying to keep things together until a successor could be found," Boardman said.

But what Boardman heard more often were long and detailed explanations about the various programs, events and services that the centers provide for students. He learned that more men than women take knitting classes at the Women's Community Center and vowed to come back during the spring for the center's annual monthlong celebration of events and programming. (He didn't accept a casual offer of tickets to an upcoming performance of The Vagina Monologues, however.)

He also received a fair amount of advice on house hunting along the Peninsula. Boardman moved into a renovated old farmhouse in midtown Palo Alto on a temporary basis so he could be close to campus.

"I'm really looking to buy, although the sticker shock is very big," Boardman said. "For the first part of my tenure, I wanted to be close to campus and get immersed into campus life."

The students and staff at the Asian American Activities Center turned a Lunar New Year celebration into a welcome party for Boardman, complete with a welcome banner. Rick Yuen, the center director, gave him a dollar that had several numbers listed that represent "wealth and prosperity from beginning to end" and said he hoped Boardman's tenure would also be enriching.

"We've had a lot of opportunities to interact already and I'm very encouraged to work with him," Yuen said. "He comes with a great wealth, breadth and depth of experience. I was very impressed with his openness and his eagerness to learn the terrain and environment at Stanford." SR

Web Links