Ashley Webster (aswebster@ursinus.edu)
President Jill Marsteller started as the interim president of Ursinus College on September 1. Marsteller aims to create an Ursinus community where there is open and transparent communication between herself and the students. This has prompted her to start a program called “Office Hours with President Jill Marsteller.” This will be held at various times in order to accommodate all students so everyone has an opportunity to participate.
Regularly scheduled office hours, Marsteller hopes, will allow her to create better relationships and connections with the students, faculty, and staff at Ursinus. She hopes that these increased connections will allow her to have her “finger on the pulse of the campus.” Marsteller believes having more involvement on campus will allow her to have a better feel of what is going on here. Though she understands that not all issues and concerns can be fixed by her alone, she wholeheartedly thinks you “cannot fix what you do not know.” She emphasizes the importance of validating the feelings and opinions of students.
So far, she has met with the Resident Assistant of on-campus housing. They expressed to her that they hoped for a more “active presence” from the president on campus. Marsteller hopes that providing options for office hours will help to achieve that. Her mindset with feedback is that it is “better to know, even if you cannot fix it.”
The involvement of Marsteller on campus will likely create a better sense of community and improve campus morale. Every student who is interested should take advantage of this opportunity as it will allow them to share their concerns.
The link to sign up for the office hours has been sent in multiple emails from Missy Bryant, Dean of Students. If students want to meet with Marsteller outside of the current office hours or have any direct concerns, they can email her directly or the President’s office.