Student Affairs and Campus Life Advisory Committee – 08/27/2026
Action Items
- No action items associated with the 08/27/26 Meeting
Minutes
College Faculty Council – Student Affairs Subcommittee
Committee Members and Student Representatives Present
- Melissa Jones – Dean of Students/Associate Vice President for Student Affairs (ex officio)
- Mike Walsh – Vice President for Student Affairs (ex officio)
- Antonia Delgado-Poust – Associate Professor, Modern Languages & Literatures, Chair
- Sarah Morealli – Senior Lecturer, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Co-Secretary
- Sidney Mullis – Assistant Professor, Department of Art, Co-Secretary
- Emily Crosby – Assistant Professor, Department of Communication & Digital Studies
- Desmond Villalba – Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry & Physics
- Maya Schram – Conservation Biology, Student Representative
Meeting Business
- Welcome and Introductions
The meeting began at 2:02 p.m. Chair Antonia Delgado-Poust welcomed returning and new members. Committee members, ex officio members, and the student representative introduced themselves. Maya Schram introduced herself as the student representative. A second student representative will be selected through the Student Government Association.
- Committee Charge and Overview
Chair Antonia Delgado-Poust reviewed the committee’s charge as outlined in the Faculty Handbook. In its advisory role, the committee works with the Vice President and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs on nonacademic student priorities, including identifying risks to student well-being, promoting a positive community ethos across UMW campuses, supporting student-service opportunities, and enhancing campus life. It also provides a two-way channel of communication between faculty and Student Affairs.
During the 2025-2026 academic year, the committee met six times, with Ashe Laughlin serving as chair. Discussions included student engagement and school pride, food insecurity and the Gwen Hale Resource Center, student health and wellness, programming to increase student participation in campus events and third spaces, and a proposed Faculty Handbook revision regarding student representation. The committee also began considering how its activities might align with Priority 3 of the University’s Strategic Action Plan.
- Approval of May 2026 Minutes
The minutes of the May 12, 2026 meeting were distributed electronically and approved by a majority of committee members before the August meeting.
- Strategic Plan – Priority 3
Presentation by Mike Walsh, Vice President for Student Affairs
Mike Walsh presented an overview of Priority 3, “Cultivating Community, Engagement, Belonging, and School Spirit.” The committee’s advisory charge overlaps substantially with Priority 3, which focuses on strengthening nonacademic student experiences and campus life.
Traditions, spirit, pride, and hospitality. Discussion addressed current perceptions of spirit and pride, with interest in documenting current and past traditions, and identifying traditions that might be strengthened or newly developed. Members also discussed the role of student organizations in weekend engagement and ways to elevate hospitality and welcome as a defining UMW tradition. Melissa Jones noted significant increase in student participation during Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening campus programming.
Athletics and recreation as community catalysts. Discussion addressed student attendance at Division III athletic events, student fees for Homecoming participation, opportunities to strengthen connections between student-athletes and other students, school-spirit initiatives, campus recreation staffing, expanded access to fitness facilities, possible new varsity sports, and efforts to strengthen and equalize support for UMW’s mascot programs.
Residence hall experience. Discussion addressed ways to make residence halls feel more welcoming and distinctive through additions such as artwork, lighting, hall identities, traditions, and friendly competition. The discussion also considered how residence life might provide meaningful roles and experiences for second-, third-, and fourth-year students.
Cohort identity and belonging. Discussion addressed retention between the second and third years, engagement for transfer and off-campus students, and the need for gathering places and programming that help students develop sustained connections to UMW.
- Committee Priorities for 2026-2027
Committee members began to discuss how its objectives for the year might align with portions of Priority 3 most closely related to student and campus life. Members emphasized the need for reliable student feedback and discussed possible student focus groups, in-class surveys, and conversations with resident assistants. Emily Crosby offered to explore in-class surveys with students in her communications courses.
Committee members expressed interest in inviting a Residence Life representative to a future meeting and arranging a tour of one or more residence halls, potentially Willard Hall, Virginia Hall, or Ball Hall. The committee will use its next meeting to workshop specific ways it can contribute to Priority 3.
- New UFC Process for Minutes and Action Items
Approved committee meeting minutes must be posted at least 10 days before each monthly UFC meeting. Action items must appear at the beginning of the minutes document. To meet this timeline, committee meetings will be earlier each month so that the co-secretaries have time to draft and circulate minutes for electronic approval via email.
All documents distributed electronically or posted to the website must be accessible. The committee agreed that draft minutes may be circulated as plain text for approval; after approval, the co-secretaries will prepare and post an accessible version on the website.
- Conclusion
The meeting concluded at 3:08pm.