Given three words to describe herself as an administrator, Associate Vice President & Fritz Family Dean of Students Maureen “Moe” McGuinness said fun, advocate and compassionate. McGuinness has been in her position at Bucknell now for a full semester and has channeled each of these in her time here already.
McGuinness became interested in being a Dean of Students when she was a work-study student in the Dean’s Office at her undergraduate institution, John Carroll University. She didn’t even know the position existed before that job, but after seeing how then-Dean of Students John Farrell took care of students, McGuinness realized that was what she wanted to do.
Like Bucknell, John Carroll is a fairly small liberal arts college, but after her time as an undergraduate, McGuinness then spent much of her academic and professional experience at the University of North Texas (UNT), which has a student enrollment of about 46,000 students. Bucknell was a big change from UNT, but it was also a return to an environment that mirrored what she saw in her early collegiate years.
Coming into Bucknell, McGuinness has tried to do a lot of observing, stating “leaders that come in and make some sweeping changes right away aren’t listening and they’re not observing and taking care of listening to students or listening to staff.”
To facilitate this listening and learning, McGuinness met with students, her team and staff from across the University. McGuinness also held about 30 what she dubbed “processes, procedures and policy” meetings, during which she learned about particular campus ongoings, such as New Student Orientation and Greek recruitment.
After observing and hearing from different campus stakeholders, McGuinness noted that there are areas where she is now ready to make some changes. These included changing housing selection for the next academic year, facilitating better summer storage infrastructure for students, getting the student thrift store off the ground and creating a Career Closet to offer clothing to students for job interviews, internships, etc.
A current initiative McGuinness also highlighted is a new contract with ClipDart to be able to provide students, particularly students of color, with free haircuts. While explaining that ClipDart will give anybody a haircut, McGuinness stated that it was particularly students of color who really wanted culturally-competent hair care available on campus.
In terms of areas for improvement, McGuinness is also thinking about the B-Eats food pantry and, more generally, food security. At UNT, McGuinness worked to turn their food pantry, previously the size of a closet, into a far larger space with a fridge and a freezer, which it lacked before. McGuinness was also able to solicit funding from the supermarket chain Kroger to make the project financially feasible. Currently, McGuinness is having conversations with University Advancement about finding donors to support improvements at B-Eats and working more closely to find and engage with local partners.
From her prior institution, McGuinness also brings passion, knowledge and experience about sexual violence prevention and advocacy, particularly from her position as a Title IX Coordinator. McGuinness said that upon arrival at Bucknell, “it’s amazing to see what’s already being done here.” She cited the Campus Sexual Assault Coalition, Molly Harris being named as the Director of the Interpersonal Violence Advocacy and Prevention Office this semester and the existence of channels for student advocacy through organizations like SpeakUp.
McGuinness noted, however, “the thing with Title IX, in things like the Clery Act or those hard conversations, is sometimes we go, ‘the Title IX Coordinator has that. That’s their job.’ And things like that are not just the Title IX Coordinator’s job. It’s not just Molly Harris’s job to do the education and prevention. It’s all of our job. It’s a university responsibility.”
So, McGuinness has been intentional to build relationships with Samantha Hart (Director, Employee Experience, Culture & Title IX Coordinator), Bill Flack (head of the Campus Sexual Assault Research Team), Harris and others working in the area of sexual violence, looking to bridge gaps between ongoing efforts. From the Culture, Engagement & Well-Being Survey results, McGuinness noted that the University has work to do in sexual violence prevention and education, and she mentioned forming a coalition to ensure the University responds to that. Other points discussed by McGuinness included having a respondent advocate to be able to support students when they are accused of committing sexual violence and training a pool of advisors who can support students through the Title IX process.
On top of her orientation towards advocacy and making change at the University level, McGuinness is really invested in developing individual relationships from her role.
“I think we all like to be treated as individuals,” McGuinness shared. “I think we have a lot of times that we [administrators] need to say, ‘I understand that that might be the rule, but let’s look at the circumstances for this situation and possibly think outside of the box.’ Every person likes to be treated as an individual, and we have different circumstances that we face every day.”
Individual care is a part of McGuinness’s role that she considers to be one of her “superpowers.” McGuinness learned from her mother, who is a hospice nurse, how “to be that, that person in the room that isn’t afraid to show compassion, that isn’t afraid to handle a crisis and really approach it from that perspective of the human being: care, being compassionate, being helpful.”
Thinking back on some of her favorite memories of the semester, McGuinness mentioned the Student Leadership and Inclusive Excellence Awards event held on April 27 and visits from Saquon Barkley and Alex Rodriguez. McGuinness also included the student forums about current executive orders, because although “it’s been a hard four months with the political landscape,” “some of those things, many times, bring [her] great relationships that [she] might not have had with a student that might have had some obstacles come their way.”
“I think the things that we do in this world and the things that our students… have to deal with a lot of times can be very difficult,” McGuinness said. “So whenever there’s an opportunity to, whether it’s with students or with the team, have some fun with some things, like participating in Canoe Battleship, I try to find those moments of levity. Because I believe they’re really important to build a team, but also to kind of make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves and taking care of each other.”
McGuinness’ philosophy as an administrator is that of listening to those around her, advocating and being the voice in the room on students’ behalf, treating others with care and grace as well as being able to learn and teach from mistakes.
McGuinness is amazed by “how much [the] students contribute to the legacy of this institution,” and as seniors prepare to graduate, McGuinness says the following: “You will always make us proud. Don’t forget to come back home once in a while, right? You don’t have to wait for reunion, but remember the relationships that you built here, that you have built a lasting impression on all of us and that your legacy here remains strong… you’re always welcome to come back home.”
