On Feb. 7, the Student Association greeted the Vice Chancellor, Vitaliano Figueroa.

Figueroa just started this past week as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students. He was born in New York and is originally from the East Coast. He wanted to get into student affairs to help students become successful, like how others helped him. Figueroa stated, “And so I always said, if I had the opportunity to help other students become successful I’d definitely want to take that opportunity and I want to move that forward. So, I’m extremely excited to have the opportunity to be with you all today.” This past week he has also been coming up with ideas to help students get to know him.

The Vice Chancellor seemed insistent on wanting to reach out and really get to know the student body. He has a lot of new ideas for connecting with students. Those being Breakfast of Champions, Donuts with The Dean of Students, and Open Office Hours.

The basis of Breakfast of Champions is connecting with the student leaders, whether it be Senate, Athletes or any student. It would be a place to talk about different issues.  Donuts with the Dean of Students would be a little different. Figueroa would go to residence halls, the student union and other places to interact with students. He would go where the students are and would support student success.

Besides hosting events, Figueroa also wants to be available to students in everyday life. Figueroa wants to have open office hours so that any student can stop by. These students would be able to voice any thoughts or questions to him. His office is located in 149 Graff Main Hall. Figueroa also wants to try and have an open-door policy for students. However, he is busy and doesn’t know how much he would be in his office.

During the Q & A portion of the meeting, many students wanted to tell him events or plans they have in the future. Some of them were how to better support trans and non-binary students on campus, how to do more for diversity clubs and to plan an event for homecoming or in the spring for students. Students and senators want to make the school and classrooms more inclusive. They also want to plan another event for students in the fall or the spring along with Oktoberfest so students have more to look forward to. Figueroa commented, “If there are any student organizations that you think would be great for me to connect with, as my schedule allows, I definitely want to stop in and get to know students.”

Both the Student Association and the Vice Chancellor want to continue helping the students. In the future, both parties hope to involve and reach out to more students.