By Maddie Garvis//
Hood is welcoming Ron Wiafe as the new Dean of Students this semester following the retirement of Olivia White in December.
Wiafe comes to Hood from Gettysburg College, where he was the director for Student Rights and Responsibilities for the last five years. Wiafe said that the values of Hood College spoke to him and that was a large part of what prompted him to apply for the Dean of Students position.
“Those core values of hope, opportunity, obligation and democracy, they really spoke to me,” Wiafe said. “I’m at a place in my career where it’s critically important that I’m at an institution that believes the way that I believe and aligns their thinking with the way that I think, and Hood College appears to do that.”
Wiafe was hired in November 2020 but didn’t start in the position until January 2021 just before the start of the spring semester.
“I am proud to welcome Dean Wiafe to the Hood Community,” President Andrea Chapdelaine said. “His comprehensive knowledge and wide-reaching professional experience will further strengthen our commitment to building a holistic and robust experience for each of our students.”
Wiafe said that he has a lot of ideas for initiatives to implement here at Hood but is first evaluating the current programs and procedures already in place to get a better sense of what initiatives would fit with Hood.
Wiafe said that one thing he really values is student feedback on the work he’ll be doing.
“If we are doing a program, or we’re changing a policy, or adjusting a procedure, I love to seek student feedback on those types of things,” Wiafe said. “I’m really looking forward to engaging with students and seeking their feedback.”
One thing that Wiafe hopes to accomplish here at Hood is to establish a more systematic method of collecting student feedback about programs at Hood like the residence life, commuter services, and student engagement programs.
“That’s something I want to accomplish as quickly as possible because I think student feedback is really critical,” Wiafe said.
Wiafe said he is looking forward to engaging with even more students and faculty as the semester continues, and that he’s really liked what he’s seen of Hood so far.
“I think Hood is amazing, he said. “The students I’ve met with thus far are very motivated and focused on their courses, they’re focused on their opportunities, and they really care about the Hood community.”
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