New position to lighten dean's load

IU recently named Gilbert Brown, former assistant dean of the University Division, as the new associate dean of students. In the position, Brown will assist the division of student affairs by implementing strategies to make the department more efficient, assist with diversity issues and help to establish new programs for strategic retention of target student groups, according to a University statement.\nBrown first served IU as the Ashton Center residence coordinator in 1986. He also received his Ph.D. in higher education from IU in 1992.\nRichard McKaig, dean of students, said Brown will be a great addition because he will lessen the load on the stretched resources of the division.\n"There have been a number of tasks that have been on our agenda that we haven't been able to get to," McKaig said. \nMcKaig also said the division will be made more effective because of the efficiency reviews Brown will conduct.\nBrown said he hopes to continue to serve IU well.\n"I have served the university in different roles for the past 16 years," he said. "I see this as the latest stage of my work for the university and look forward to serving in this capacity."\nBrown also said that he hopes to be an effective addition to the division of student affairs.\n"I hope to build on a lot of the work that Dr. McKaig had been doing for the past 15 to 20 years," Brown said. "(I plan to) work with organizations, serving as a good liaison between administration and students."\nBrown is slated to start work on a mentoring program designed to increase the retention rate for under-represented male students, including African American, Native American, Hispanic and impoverished students. The program will support these students with classes, workshops and by giving each student a mentor on the faculty or administration.\n"Black and Hispanic students have a higher rate of attrition," Brown said. "We're trying to give a little bit more institutional attention to the unique needs that African American and Hispanic male students have here at IU."\nBrown said the program will begin in a preliminary capacity in the spring of 2003.\nMcKaig said he welcomes Brown's appointment as a step toward making the division more effective.\n"For us it is a major benefit, we now have the resources of a trained professional who knows the campus," McKaig said. "To get a third person really makes a big difference"