A Student Campus Center: A Conversation with Keith Motley

Visit the new Campus Center Web site today: www.umb.edu/campuscenter

Vice Chancellor Keith Motley sat down with the University Reporter for a Q & A session on his vision for student services in the new Campus Center:

What’s your vision for the Campus Center?

I see it as an opportunity to bring together all the components that are now scattered throughout the campus into a place that will become the heart of UMass Boston. The Campus Center will bring all the dimensions of university culture into a place where we can cross boundaries and learn new things about each other.

It is also a way to open our community to visitors and give them an opportunity to understand that we are more than most of them probably thought we were, from their view from the outside. When you walk into such a dynamic building with wonderful things happening everywhere, the attitude of even your most critical person will be taken to another level because of the energy.

Do you think this will make your job easier?

I think if we all sit back and wait for the Campus Center to make our jobs easier, then we’re in trouble. We have to be the energy that moves the Campus Center forward. We have to make it happen. All of us, even those who do not have an office there, play a role in the success of the Campus Center.
What is the students’ vision of the Campus Center?

I think students are really excited about the potential of the center, but they’re also nervous about the transition, moving and packing, those sort of worries. So we’re trying to keep on top of every one of those concerns that we hear about and help people transition to the building in a way that makes them comfortable enough to give it a chance. Moving is one of the more stressful things to do under any circumstance.

Students on campus are used to doing things certain ways, often because of constraints. New opportunities will bring new relationships, new challenges, and new collaborations.

How does it change your job?

I think my ability to be right in the building with students and to go downstairs and encounter students will allow me to have dialogue with them. I’m really looking forward to that.

I’ve been able to meet with a majority of students by going over to Wheatley Hall, but even when I went over there, students were saying, “the Vice Chancellor is coming to see us!”—as if they were doing something wrong. Now it’s going to be different, because we will be there with them every day, so they’ll be used to seeing us.

What are some of your plans?

With the STARS program, we’re able to provide a series of events year round that allow for student growth and development. We are able to engage our student government in a way that we believe they should be engaged. We’ll be able to work with student organizations to do a lot of collaborative events between faculty, staff, and students. What we want to show is consistency, events throughout the year that become traditions for our university that allow for learning and sometimes some good old-fashioned fun.

What do you think of the Campus Center’s future impact for students?
The Campus Center will be an important part of the recruitment process for students as they consider where they will attend college. I believe that we have positioned ourselves to provide the type of support, in a world-class facility, that will assist students outside of the classroom and help them to be successful here at UMass Boston and beyond.

It’s grand. It’s beautiful. I’ve seen a lot of buildings, and this is among the very best.

Image: Vice Chancellor Keith Motley of Student Affairs. (Photo by Harry Brett)

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