2008 Woodie Awards
New Student Life director named
David Cordill
Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: News
|
While still getting accustomed to her surroundings, Lubischer, UMKC's new Student Life director, is looking forward to interacting with the student body.
"I love working with students," Lubischer said. "I love the college atmosphere. I think more than any time in a person's life, their time in college ... I think it proves to be the most transformational in terms of a person's life, in terms of the experiences you have, the opportunity to learn inside and outside of the classroom. I think that's really what I thrive on."
The former director of student activities at Rockhurst University, Lubischer became UMKC's first permanent Student Life director since Zauyah Waite left for a position at the University of Toledo in June 2006.
Since then, Jeff Traiger has served as interim director of UMKC's Student Life program while Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Mel Tyler, has searched for Waite's replacement.
Lubischer submitted her application, résumé and cover letter to UMKC last November when she learned of the opening. She was contacted for a phone interview sometime afterward. After a search committee checked her references, Lubischer went for a campus interview in late January, which was followed by a lunch meeting with Tyler and a couple students on the committee.
Several weeks later, Lubischer was offered the position. Impressed with the UMKC campus and what it had to offer, Lubischer accepted.
"I think that the University is going in a great place," Lubischer said. "There are a lot of things on the books in terms of building and it feels like an exciting place to be and a place that I would really enjoy."
Changing over from Rockhurst University, a traditional Jesuit school, to a liberal university like UMKC does not overly concern Lubischer, because of her time spent at public and state-funded institutions such as Michigan State and William & Mary.
But Lubischer does maintain that dealing with a larger student body will require some adjustment.
"It will be a lot different because it is a much larger campus [than Rockhurst], obviously," Lubischer said. "But all of my experience prior to my time at Rockhurst was either at public institutions and fairly large campuses. Probably Michigan State and UMKC would be similar in terms of their more political leanings, so I don't know if it will be that big of a transition for me. It will be kind of nice for me to be able to have conversations about different things that we might not have been able to talk about [at Rockhurst]."
Alternative lifestyle events like UMKC's Gay Cabaret, "would be an important thing to have at Rockhurst but because of the mission and the type of institution, obviously we saw it more difficult to do that kind of programming," Lubischer said.
Lubischer holds a master's degree in higher education from the College of William & Mary and a B.S. in family community services from Michigan State University. Currently pursuing her doctorate in higher education at the University of Kansas, Lubischer began her tenure at UMKC on March 19.
She is excited with the prospects of getting together with students as she becomes acclimated.
"I am anxious to meet students from all across the campus and finding out who they are, what their interests are, and what the Student Life Office can do help them have a better experience here on campus, because that is ultimately what our goal and purpose is," Lubischer said. "We're here for the students."
dcordill@unews.com
Be the first to comment on this story