Anthony reflects on time as ISU dean of students

When Pamela Anthony first set foot on Iowa State University’s campus, she never expected to fall in love with Iowa.

But the Atlanta, Ga., native quickly became hooked and in 2012, she landed the job as the dean of students on campus.

“I was walking with Dr. (Tom Hill, then vice president of student affairs), and we were walking in front of Beardshear Hall,” she said. “I just remember looking to my left and seeing the huge central campus and I was like, wait a minute. Students were lying on the ground, and it was just this wonderful feeling.”

Anthony now is leaving her position at ISU on Wednesday to begin her new work as the vice president of student affairs at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Anthony came to ISU in 2012, after serving as the assistant dean of students since 2003 at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Prior to that, she served as director of student activities at Spelman College in Atlanta, and also worked as a coordinator of multicultural affairs and an area coordinator of residence life at University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

During her time at ISU, Anthony said she enjoyed the collaboration throughout departments and divisions around the university, as well as the overall “school spirit” across campus.

“There seems to be this genuine, very authentic feeling about being a Cyclone. Honestly, I’d never experienced that at any other institutions where I worked,” she said. “The majority of people here, there’s this pride about being a Cyclone that I have just fallen in love with.”

Over the years, Anthony said there have been challenges to the job, including handling crisis situations.

“No matter how much training you have in this kind of world and how much experience you have, it’s personal,” she said. “I’ve had to interact with parents who have lost a student, and that is very difficult no matter how many times you do it.”

Anthony also served on the Veishea task force, which was assigned to study the future of the campus celebration following the 2014 suspension of the event. She said the biggest challenge about the entire situation was watching the community respond, and making the difficult decision to address safety concerns around the celebration.

“It was such a fabric of this institution. I can remember sitting in town hall meetings, and there were older alumni who were tearful about the fact that Veishea was leaving. So it made me think about how big of a part of the community that was,” she said. “I understand it’s part of the Iowa State community, but it doesn’t mean we can’t create new things and showcase Iowa State in a way that’s safe. Our responsibility to ensure safety is great. If I have a choice to err on the side of safety, I’m going to do that.”

But those challenges have helped to better prepare her for the next step in her life, Anthony said. This new role will include many of the same duties she held at ISU, in addition to a few more.

Initially, she had not even looked at the job opening but instead found out she was nominated as a person of interest for the position.

“It was on my list to have the opportunity to lead a division of student affairs,” she said. “Once I decided to apply and obviously was successful in getting the position, I just knew there’s some destiny related to that.”

The smaller university of 11,000 students will create a different environment, she said, but she’s also excited to return to a larger city and start a new job that was on her “career trajectory.”

As Anthony prepares to leave ISU, Keith Robinder, associate dean of students at ISU, will assume the interim dean of students position next week.

Robinder said he is excited for the opportunity to continue the work Anthony has done in the last few years.

“I think one of the things I’m most excited about is we have good people already in place, and now I get to help them. That’s just really energizing,” he said.

Robinder said he expects there will be some challenge to adjusting to the role and managing his current responsibilities. But he does not expect any major changes and instead wants to “keep the momentum” of the office, and he said he wants to ensure students receive the services they expect.

“Even though Pamela is leaving and will be missed, there are good folks still here and we’re still able to assist in any and all the ways we can,” he said.

A farewell reception for Anthony will be from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Even as the majority of her office in the Student Services Building was packed away, Anthony said she will forever be grateful for her time as a Cyclone.

“I’ll forever be a Cyclone,” she said. “I’ve loved the students here, I’ve loved this experience. It’s set me up, I hope, to be a good and excellent vice president. So I will forever be indebted to the Cyclones.”

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What is the ISU dean of students position?

As the position often puts her in charge of student affairs and activities in the 14 departments of the dean of students office, Anthony said the role has “no typical day.” On a given day, Anthony could be in meetings with ISU students or department leaders, handling a complaint or speaking with a parent, or handling an emergency situation.

“But that’s part of what I like about this kind of role,” she said. “You wake up in the morning and you say I never know what I’m going to get today.”

Anthony’s major milestones

Pamela Anthony said she hit three major milestones during her time at ISU.

- Hiring full director-level staff

“I have a management team that serves as directors of the now 14 departments. The most major milestone I have is hiring and getting a full team,” she said. “From Aug. 1, 2012 to May 1, 2015, we had vacancies at different levels at different intervals.”

- Restructuring the “four spheres” of the dean of students office in 2014

The dean of students office is now divided into four spheres: student life, student success and retention, wellness and social justice and inclusion.

“When you say there’s 14 departments, by the time you start listing them and you get to six or seven, people get this glossy look,” Anthony said. “So what we did was we re-branded the way we talk about the dean of students office, understanding that we have certain spheres of influence in terms of students.”

- Developing an assessment plan for student learning outcomes

Under the responsibility of the associate dean of students, the assessment plan means the office will now have data to see what is making a difference in the lives of ISU students. By the end of the fiscal year, every department will have measured at least one student learning outcome.

“It’s not just as in, do students like this?” Anthony said. “Really we’ve moved to a model of student learning outcomes, and that’s more ‘What are you learning as a result of being involved in our services and programs?’”