The Rowan Student Government Association (SGA) introduced the new Dean of Students, Dr. Kevin Koett during their bi-weekly meeting in Pfleeger concert hall.

Koett’s responsibilities include Community Standards; Residential Learning and University Housing; and Volunteerism, Community Engagement and Commuter Services. 

“I’m going to work most directly with housing and with civic involvement,” Dr. Koett said.  “My job is to be a student advocate.” 

Dr. Koett has been involved with higher education for about thirty years, working for a myriad of schools small and large including institutions spanning from New York Chiropractic College to Clemson University. 

“I really want to help students overcome the barriers they face,” Dr. Koett said. “I’m a first-generation student; college wasn’t supposed to be an opportunity for me. I was blessed enough to get an athletic scholarship, which was my door into college.” 

He cited his participation in student affairs as well as being a Resident Advisor at Augustana University as the reason he chose his career path. Dr. Koett said that he believes Rowan has a unique outlook on student success, which sets it apart from many of the schools he’s known. 

“A lot of institutions in higher (education) will talk about student success, they’ll talk about valuing students. For me there’s a reality to it… This idea of innovation and resilience, that making a mistake doesn’t destroy you. Making a mistake makes you a stronger person. That’s very unique to Rowan as far as being experimental, innovative, and creative,” Dr. Koett said. 

Koett has been involved in higher-education since the 1980s and emphasized the drastic change he’s witnessed throughout his career. He believes Rowan is willing to embrace innovation to keep up and thrive with the changes. 

In other SGA news, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs Sam Mardini informed the senators that he is looking into expanding the reach of Honors Student’s housing priorities. 

“Right now, I’m working on a potential plan to add honors housing to the Nexus properties,” Mardini said. Currently, Honors students have priority registration over Whitney and Rowan Boulevard but not the premium apartments at Victoria or 220. He said he would continue to update senators on these plans. 

“The honors housing might not be something you think pertains to academics or it’s something you can do anything about, but I’d be happy if anyone has a concern with anything in their academic department or major, just shoot me an email,” Mardini said. 

Mardini also wants Rowan’s student body to participate in a survey to determine if we want the Campbell Library to be open earlier in the morning. You can reach Sam at SGAAcademic@rowan.edu to share your thoughts on the matter.

Assistant Vice President of Public Relations and Special Events Camryn Hadley reminded senators and students that signups are open for the annual ‘Back to the Boro’ event. The community-wide cleanup event aims to give back to the town of Glassboro by performing household tasks for the residents who co-exist with us. Rowan’s website describes last year’s event as, ” a huge success with over 1,600 registered Rowan volunteers working at over 200 neighbor’s homes and community sites.” This year’s ‘Back to the Boro’ will be Apr. 26, keep up with SGA on social media for more updates.

For comments/questions about this story, email news@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.