STORIES

Achievements

In the News

Briefly Noted

From the President's Desk

Exhibitions

Calendar

Credits

Archives

Twice in a Blue Moon

Jim Moon takes interim helm of Student Affairs for the second time in his career

The call last summer to step into the position of vice president for Student Affairs was the second such call Jim Moon has had in his 33-year career at CSU, Chico. He was caught off guard by the retirement of former Vice President Paul Moore, but having worn the shoes before made the somewhat daunting task at least familiar.

In the summer of 1987, Betty Lou Raker, then vice president of student affairs, unexpectedly stepped down, and then President Robin Wilson asked Moon to be acting vice president, which he did through 1988.

It's 15 years later, and the scope of the job has broadened and the challenges have shifted. At the annual Student Affairs' "Meet and Greet," Moon talked about his plans for the division, for working with other administrators, and for himself.

Strengthening the relationship with Academic Affairs

Moon has already begun working on creating an exemplary relationship between the academic side of the university and Student Affairs. "I've made a professional commitment to make working relationships even better, to make our relationship a productive one," said Moon. He is convinced that this first task is already going well because many differences in the goals and styles of the two groups exist only at the perception level. "I see no substantial evidence at the staff level that there is a problem between divisions. I see the opposite: people working together and getting important things done," said Moon.

Increasing diversity

While diversity can be defined various ways, Moon views it as the number of people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds represented.

His commitment to such diversity is, no doubt, influenced by his experience as a Vista volunteer in the late 1960s and a Peace Corps volunteer from 1968 to 1970. The experience made him deeply appreciative of cultural differences, and, at the same time, reinforced a belief that we are all the same. By that, Moon means that human beings have the same basic human needs for recognition, expression, using their abilities, and an ability and capacity for deep sadness and great joy.

The challenges for increasing diversity vary for faculty recruitment, student recruitment, and staff recruitment, primarily in the size of the populations to draw from. Nevertheless, he believes that where there's a will, there's a way. "I think we can make more progress if we put more will behind it. You have to start somewhere, and it is a question of the chicken and the egg -- on one hand, you need critical mass to attract people, and, on the other, you have to attract people to create the critical mass," said Moon.

First-year experience, drug and alcohol abuse, off-campus violence, cheating and plagiarism

Moon is working with Interim President Scott McNall and the other vice presidents in making the first-year experience a priority. Student Affairs units are already very involved in such efforts. These efforts coincide with the university's priority of reducing drug and alcohol abuse.

One strategy to decrease alcohol abuse that is being explored is deferred rush. The Inter-Fraternity Council agreed to a voluntary deferred rush (from fall to spring semester) for two years after the death of freshman Adrian Heideman in 2000. That volunteer time period ran out at the end of May, and a new agreement needs to be forged with Greek organizations.

Moon referred to three phenomena on the rise that impact Student Affairs personnel and resources heavily: student violence off campus, student mental health problems, and an increase in plagiarism. The Psychological Counseling Center, Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center, Student Activities, and Student Judicial Affairs fall under the purview of Student Affairs.

"More students are choosing violence as a way of solving differences. Often, this involves alcohol abuse. We are exploring the possibility of tying off-campus behavior to the university discipline and judicial process," said Moon. There is also an increase in student mental health problems said Moon. One theory is that with improved pharmaceutical treatment, more students with problems can carry on normal student lives, as long as they take their medications.

Cheating and plagiarism have also increased dramatically, from a yearly average of 20 to 50 a year to more than 100 cases so far this year. "The trends in these areas place an increased burden on staff in times of decreasing resources," said Moon.

Housing expansion plan

The university's plan over the next five to eight years is to add 800 beds on campus. "We want to offer university housing to any new student who would like it. Our first priority will be freshmen," said Moon. Housing currently has 1,750 spaces, with 450 of them off campus in University Village. The majority of housing spaces are occupied by freshmen, but there is a need for more housing for everyone. "We think a better mix of class levels would have a positive impact on freshmen," said Moon.

Budget

Budget cuts -- those taken, those anticipated in the next six months, and those unknown -- pose a serious challenge to Student Affairs. "We've been asked to identify strengths, to identify cuts that could be made and most easily restored, and to identify the impact of enrollment reduction linked to budget cuts," said Moon.

This approach prepares the way for targeted cuts rather than across-the-board cuts. "We must respond in long-range terms," he said, "not just in terms of what we have to do to get through the next year."

Moon noted that great changes affected us in the last few years -- 9/11, the war in Iraq, the budget crisis, the fires in Southern California. More important, however, is that change itself has changed. "We used to be able to predict changes in our lives that would come at critical junctures such as graduation, marriage, or a first job. Now, there are major changes happening almost daily that have the potential of changing all of our lives in dramatic ways," he said. He plans to have the Student Affairs program development committee develop a program on managing change through difficult times for an annual training retreat for all staff held in January.

Moon has accepted the interim position and is happy to fill that role for as long as needed. Future plans will wait until his second stint in charge of Student Affairs is over.

Kathleen McPartland