Provost Robert Shelton climbed onto a coffee table Tuesday afternoon to invite faculty, staff and students gathered in the Student Union to welcome Margaret Jablonski, the new vice chancellor for student affairs.
"The word I would use to describe (Jablonski) is engaged," Shelton said. "She has not missed a beat since she's been here. She's already had meetings en masse and one-on-one, which I can tell you takes a lot of energy."
During the six weeks since taking on her new post, Jablonski has tried to acclimate herself to the University. "I've been trying to better understand the campus culture," she said. "I want to answer the question, 'What does it mean to be at Carolina?'"
To accomplish this, Jablonski has made it her priority to become acquainted with various campus organizations.
"As with any good leader, she is taking her time to understand each organization and the people within it before she decides to move in any particular direction," said Cynthia Wolf Johnson, associate vice chancellor for student learning.
Student leaders present at the welcome event said Jablonski has proven herself to be a valuable asset for all students. "The vice chancellor position is one of the chief liaisons between the students and the administration, so it's been very important to us that she's been so receptive," said Student Body President Matt Calabria
Focusing her efforts on how to better serve the students, Jablonski has begun implementing programs to address campus issues. She has created a staff development committee that will work to better educate members of her office on how to communicate with and respond to students. "I want to make sure we're developing programs to educate and serve a diverse student body," she said.
Before Tuesday's event, Jablonski expressed her excitement about campus construction and the possibilities that projects such as the Ramshead Center could create for students.
When the Ramshead Center is complete and Chase Hall is demolished in March, construction will begin on the Student Academic Services Building that will take its place and house programs such as the Writing Center and ROTC.
