Occasionally a co-worker will call in sick right before opening or the notorious slacker will show up a few minutes late leaving everyone else to carry out extra duties. So is the case for FAU’s Terry Mena, the interim associate dean of Student Affairs also acting as dean of students, director of housing and head of judicial cases at FAU.
A cell phone rings on his hip repeatedly, the computer yelps “you have mail” by the minute, and secretary Jane chimes a monotonous “John Doe is here to meet you.” This is the soundtrack for Terry Mena, the “interim associate dean of student affairs interim dean of student affairs director of Broward campus student life.” He is an upbeat FAU servant making the best of a dwindling senior employee situation in the student affairs office.
Two main players in the student affairs department have left for sufficient reasons. Associate Dean Lisa Bardill ran after a job opportunity at Pace University, while Dean of Student Affairs Bates underwent a hip replacement surgery shortly after. Neither will be back to handle the administrative responsibilities of student affairs.
Terry Mena, on the other hand, was asked to be an interim associate dean of student affairs when Bardill quit, and two weeks later took on the responsibilities of interim dean of student affairs for Bates. Mena’s original position as the director of Broward student life granted him a desk at the Davie campus and time to deal with projects such as the new 28,000 square foot student union building on the Davie campus, which will house both office and classroom space.
Some of the weekly activities for Mena include overseeing campus staff, meeting with club leaders, assisting the head departments of the UP, OWL radio and OWL television as well as five department heads of the Health and Wellness Center, pharmacy, Greek life, international student services, and career development, while finally dealing with judicial cases (disciplinary the problems) and the death protocol. “That’s pretty much the caveat of my responsibilities, it’s a lot,” says Mena, who accepts the challenges of his new job title(s) and meets his goal. “[I]t is my passion to help the students succeed in their college experience.”
Among the new pivots of an interim associate dean of student affairs interim dean of student affairs director of Broward campus student life’s responsibilities, Mena is spear heading a five year Greek life plan which he hopes will address the enhancement of fraternities and sororities, while giving Greek life at FAU a home. Mena enjoys helping out clubs and organizations around the university, which he plans on “expanding under the plans of President Brogan and Brown to enhance student life.”
Other activities for Mena include meeting with student government officials, such as President Tony Texeira and Vice President Abe Cohen, along with the rest of student government. Casual meets take place between the political junkies sometimes daily, although Mena says the group “gets down to business when its time.” Mena believes such meetings on a friendly and business level are important so that “I can help them with agenda setting and so there is a basic understanding of issues.” Mena continues, “We have these casual meetings often that might turn more formal in the future.”
Speaker pro-tempore of student government, Chris Mack, comments on these meetings between student government and the administration offices. Meetings between Mena and student government consist of lunch and talk situations, and are usually conducted with Brown. On these meetings, Mack says, “what they talk about I don’t know, but hopefully he will start coming up to the open forum and start talking to us, that would be nice.” As far as what Mack thinks they talk about, he says: “If they’re just having lunch, I don’t think it’s a big deal but if they’re discussing business and talking about what they’re going to do as well as making up their mind without being out in the open with it then that’s messed up, but I don’t think that’s going on here.”
Mack says “meeting with someone like Mena is somewhat patronizing, especially if we talk about things that we already know how to do.” Student government works closely with the administration so that if there were a majority of new people, they could be guided by the administrators. Mack says “it’s a necessary balance and someone like Mena who has a lot on his plate is good for the job.” If Terry Mena might be wasting precious time on a veteran force of student government, his ideas are helpful, Mack explains: “Its never a waste to have another opinion because its always good to have one more perspective on any major decision being made.” One thing is for sure, as far as Mena is connected to Student Government, Mack says, “We got him working hard.”
Nevertheless, the responsibilities of three administrators should not be placed on one person. Apparently, filling up the student affairs positions is a lengthy process and not so simple. Mena agrees that the empty positions must be filled by someone with a qualified candidate and says, “We are only looking for the most experienced administrators with at least a master’s degree and six years of experience.”
Charles Brown, vice president of the university, agrees that the position is crucial to maintain a good dí©cor in the administration of FAU: “We haven’t wasted any time in the selection of a new dean of student affairs and both local and national committees have been contacted.” These search committees are handling the recruitment of applicants who will be interviewed in the next three weeks. An exact number on how many have applied for the position is not known, but Brown feels that the position will be filled no later than September 15. The open positions include a dean of student affairs, director of student government accounting, director of student government and a director of student media, each requiring a 40 hour work week. Brown will oversee the final selection, and says “we need someone who has comprehensive experience in judicial affairs, honor society, student government, Greek life and someone who already has the experience of working across university affairs.”
Not just luck brought Mena to his position at FAU: it took time, energy and hard work to bring the South Florida native back home. Mena began his college career at Northwestern College and was very involved in student government and club organizations. He soon realized with the help of a mentor that he enjoyed helping other students and leading them on their educational path in the university.
The criminal justice degree Mena was working on soon changed to “student personnel administration.” After four years, he moved to New York where he worked on his two year master’s and began working at Barnett College, an all women’s institution in Columbia University. Mena enjoyed his time at Barnett and says, “I was able to meet many women that continued on to become great leaders in our country and it is an opportunity I wouldn’t trade for the world.” One of programs Mena was involved in includes the upper bound program, which is federally funded to target potential college students who would not get into college under normal circumstances because of their economical status. Mena says: “The program was an important part of my career and it was an exciting experience to be part of their lives.”
Mena did not stay in Buffalo for long, and soon left to face an endeavor at his four year institute, Northwestern. At Northwestern, Mena lead 22 resident assistants and three graduate assistants who helped control a dorm that separated 18 and 22-year-olds by only a door. Mena was also able to help the Latin American Caribbean studies program that aimed to grant minority students with scholarships and offered academic programs. Mena was far from home and began searching for a new job. “I always wanted to end back up at home in South Florida, so I put myself on the market,” he says.
Mena knew that moving at this point would lead to a pay cut and a lower position, but his passion in helping students lead him to the owls. Becoming a housing coordinator and, two years later, an associate director for student development activities at FAU, Mena was moving up, just in time to open Pandora’s box. Happy at home with a wife and son, Mena says: “I knew it would open doors for me, and I came here with a plan to get a doctorate and pursue my passion in helping students succeed.”
The three-titled man certainly does not plan on remaining student affairs all-in-one forever, and has decided to pursue his doctorate degree here at FAU. “I am excited to be working on my seventh year in the program studying Philosophy and higher education,” Mena says. “I will have my degrees by 2011 which really isn’t that far away.” The student affair guru is looking beyond the dean of student affairs position and hopes to one day become the president of a university, a rank requiring at least 15 years of post master’s professional experience, a doctorate and other associate president positions. “After I achieve my doctorate, I will be eligible for applying for a Presidential position, maybe even here at FAU,” Mena says.
