Robert Samuels, who has worked at the Office of Student Life for three years, has stepped in to take the place of Jean Joyce-Brady as senior associate dean and interim director of student life.
Samuels, formerly an associate dean of student life, will serve as interim director of student life for the rest of the academic year, said Margaret Klawunn, interim dean for campus life. Joyce-Brady's last day at Brown was last Friday.
Samuels has taken on a great deal of responsibility along with the position, Klawunn said. "The job involves on-call crisis work with students," she said. "The student life office also convenes various campus committees and does work with residential programs."
In addition, the director of student life is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Office of Student Life, including crisis management, the dean of the day system, disability support services, and a range of other student support programs, Samuels said.
His current job also involves a lot of "higher-order troubleshooting," Samuels said. "When problems are not easily managed, I come in and try to deal with the issues between students and particular deans," he said. "Primarily, I try to see that the operations of students' lives are responding to their needs."
Samuels previously served as Brown's assistant director of psychological services. That background has served him well so far, he said. "It gave me a sense of Brown's students and a familiarity with the University," he said.
"(Samuels) has a psychological counseling background and has been very effective in crisis management," Klawunn said.
Though he has only been on the job since last Friday, Samuels has managed the transition very smoothly, she said. "We promoted someone here who had a good background. There have been no problems with the transitioning phase," Klawunn said.
"I feel fortunate to have the staff I have. We've worked together in the past and so the transition has been smooth," Samuels said.
The search will begin in the spring and will be advertised nationally, said Klawunn. Samuels said he hasn't thought about whether he will apply for the permanent position.
According to Klawunn, Samuels might well be in the running. "It depends on his plans, but he might go into the search for it," she said. "He has proven himself very capable."
