Goldsmith’s focus is support

The Office of the Dean of Students, tucked away in the Indiana Memorial Union, has been home to Harold “Pete” Goldsmith, IU’s dean of students for the past two and a half years.

Goldsmith sat down with the IDS to answer a few questions about his position and why he enjoys it.

IDS  What is your role as dean of students?

GOLDSMITH  I think there are primarily three roles. One is to lead the Division of Student Affairs. It has a number of units that provide a wide variety of support services to students. Beyond that, we try to help students remove bumps in the road. If there are issues or concerns, we try to help students overcome that issue so they can get back to the business of being a student rather than being distracted with whatever that issue is. The third thing we do is try to provide experiences that are going to extend or enhance a student’s educational experience, whether that’s community service or volunteerism or student leadership programs.

IDS  How exactly do you do that?

GOLDSMITH  We provide a series of courses on leadership. We provide training on leadership development. We advise student organizations, which there are about 750. We just provide a laboratory, really, for students to learn new skills and apply those skills in a leadership environment. Then the volunteer services have to do with, we place students in volunteer activities throughout Monroe County to help them kind of understand real-world issues and real-world solutions to things.

IDS  What is your favorite part of the job?

GOLDSMITH  Dealing with students because there are just a wide variety of students that I come in contact with. Sometimes it’s a lot of student leaders, and that’s a lot of fun in terms of trying to help them achieve their goals. Sometimes there are students who have issues, and I’m kind of able to help them get back on track and solve that problem, and that feels pretty good.

IDS  What is the greatest challenge you’ve faced?

GOLDSMITH  Certainly any kind of crises are difficult to deal with. Probably one of the biggest we’ve had recently is the Lauren Spierer disappearance. As you know, that’s ongoing, so it really has been an amazingly challenging undertaking.

IDS  Have you had any moment that has particularly moved you?

GOLDSMITH  I’ll tell you, one of my favorite moments of the year is freshman induction. When we greet a new class, the notion of the Indiana Promise, the spirit of Indiana — all of that is pretty moving.

IDS  Why do you think your position is important to the University?

GOLDSMITH  I think it’s important to the University because we try to help students be successful. Students come to us not just as students but as human beings with lots of opportunity, issues and concerns. What we try to do is facilitate that success. We really add richness to the academic community.

IDS  What direction do you see the programs in the Division of Student Affairs going in the future?

GOLDSMITH  Most universities are challenged now with having enough money to get the job done. So, helping to think about things like strategic planning and what our biggest priorities are but also trying to see if there are other ways we can secure money grants, fundraising, increased collaboration with folks across the University.

Goldsmith earned his undergraduate degree at IU with a major in government and minors in psychology and sociology.

He earned his master’s degree in education in student personnel from the American University and then returned to IU for a doctor of education degree in higher education administration.

He then worked with student affairs at Kent State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania and as an administrator in student affairs at Michigan State and Old Dominion universities.

Goldsmith has also had work published in student affairs journals and national newspapers.

He had leadership positions in the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the American College Personnel Association.