By: Jennifer Ortiz
Sarah Currie, former Director of Retention, is the current Dean of Students and is bringing in new ideas to connect with Gardner-Webb students.
“The position of Dean of Students is being and advocate for students and a resource,” said Currie.
With this awareness in mind, Currie decided to implement Dinner with the Dean, a program for 12 students that would allow them to network over a meal with people from the greater Shelby and Charlotte community throughout the academic year.
Photo by: Elizabeth Banfield
With Currie as the new Dean, Dinner with the Dean will be the biggest implementation visible to student this year. She is also helping a student start the Decker Big/Little Program, a mentoring program in Decker Hall.
Currie took on the position as the new dean of students at Gardner-Webb January 2015, a position formerly combined with the vice president of student development held by Dr. Dee Hunt.
“Administratively, GWU made the decision to separate them so that the Dean of Students would have more time to give to students,” said Currie.
Currie said she spent the first couple of months in her new position evaluating what was happening on campus with students and getting support from her colleagues. The Dean of Students works alongside student activities, student leadership and government, community engagement and service as well as student conduct. As the new Dean of Students, she hopes to connect with more students in order for her to understand how to be an advocate for student needs.
Though she is new to this position, Currie has been involved in various ways in the Gardner-Webb Community since coming to Gardner-Webb eight years ago. She was a former assistant to the women’s soccer coach and the director of the Bulldog Club.
Throughout her time here, she said that her favorite thing about Gardner-Webb has been what “everyone always says—community and people. That’s what we do well.”
