Connecting you to resources, community, and success from Student Affairs at Michigan Tech
Welcome to the Student Affairs blog—your hub for practical advice, campus insights, and stories that matter to your Michigan Tech experience. Whether you’re navigating your first semester or preparing for graduation, we’re here to support your journey with timely information and genuine perspectives from the people who work with students every day.
Assistant Dean of Community Conduct
The Office of Academic and Community Conduct regularly handles reports beginning with “Someone said something that made me uncomfortable/offended/unsafe…”. We navigate these situations within First Amendment constraints, civil rights obligations, and University policy and mission requirements. Freedom of speech and expression concerns can involve intense emotions but our office is here to support you in many ways.
We navigate situations in the gray areas such as (this is not an exhaustive list):
Our responsibility is determining when “offensive” becomes “harassment”—which excludes constitutionally protected activities serving legitimate purposes.
Our Free Speech Education Team helps individuals and groups understand Michigan Tech’s protest and demonstration guidelines. Using the team is optional and doesn’t indicate University endorsement of events if used.
While administrators maintain content neutrality, Student Affairs staff offer community dialogue opportunities for impacted parties when the need arises. We balance supporting those affected while recognizing that protected speech can sometimes cause discomfort.
Laws and policy require that we analyze context, persistence, severity, and pervasiveness in cases where free speech and expression crosses over into unconstitutionally protected speech. Our investigations include fact-gathering, interviews, and evidence collection to ensure due process. We also coordinate with faculty and staff, especially those in Student Affairs, to support students in need even when conduct rules are not broken.
Additionally, we conduct mandatory Rights and Responsibilities sessions during first-year orientation. These sessions focus on civil discourse and campus event responses to prepare students for the transition to the new university environment.
We are always open to visiting classes, providing training, or facilitating discussions if requested. Our Free Speech Education Team is also available to all, but is not required to be used if planning a protest and/or demonstration.
We are always open to visiting classes, providing training, or facilitating discussions if requested.
Faculty have the authority to manage their classroom environment to support effective teaching and learning. This includes setting clear expectations, addressing disruptions, and removing students when necessary. In partnership with the Center for Teaching and Learning, we will provide support through lunch-and-learn sessions to help faculty navigate these challenging situations.
The Student Code of Community Conduct gives faculty clear backing through its Disruptive Behavior provision, which prohibits “disrupting or impeding University operations or activities, including teaching, research, administration, other authorized University and non-University activities that occur at the University or University owned property, or surrounding community.” When disruptive behavior occurs, faculty can report it or consult with the Office of Academic and Community Conduct.
Every decision impacts real people. We aim to assist with policy understanding, promote growth, and address community impact through compassionate enforcement and education—not endorsement—of freedom of expression principles within law and policy. Most importantly, we are here to talk.
Dean of Students and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Day one brings excitement and energy to campus, but beneath the joy of reunions and new beginnings, many students face serious personal challenges through the transitions. Military duty, family deaths, illness, mental health struggles, financial difficulties, and medical diagnoses don’t pause for the semester. Many students are figuring out how to navigate these crises alone for the first time, away from their support systems.
The Early Intervention Team, also known as EIT, is responsible for reviewing and screening potential at-risk students and critical situations. The Early Intervention Team uses evidence-based strategies to identify early indicators of potential risks and harms to self and others. Through their efforts, the team can help at-risk students before they experience crisis.
New digital platform empowers families to support their students’ journey through Michigan Tech
Michigan Technological University today announced the launch of the Husky Family Den. This comprehensive digital platform is designed to strengthen family engagement and support student success throughout the college experience. The new portal provides families with centralized access to university resources, personalized communications, and tools to help their students thrive at Michigan Tech.
Director of International Programs and Services
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
As I sat in my office thinking of what I would write about for this article as a representation of what International Programs and Services (IPS) does, I realized it is likely most of the campus community does not know what it is that we do. Sometimes even the international contingent of our University does not truly know what we do. Much like every other department within Student Affairs, IPS handles the day-to-day support of students. For us, however, our focus is international students. From immigration status, to employment, to roommate issues and how best to engage with the community—IPS handles it all.
Director of Residence Education
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The Division of Student Affairs aims to celebrate, support, and inspire all of our students. Residence Education, through the Residential Learning model, further expands upon the idea of supporting students through our focus on assisting students in building resilience. One of our learning outcomes states, students will embrace an adaptive mindset, which helps students to understand the differences between a fixed and growth mindset and identify opportunities for adaptive thinking.
Executive Director, Career Services
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
As universities continue to navigate the evolving landscape of higher education, the integration of a campus career ecosystem that emphasizes return on investment (ROI) is becoming increasingly critical. According to Rebekah Pare the career development department’s role has evolved beyond just placing students in jobs after graduation. Today, it is a core component of student success, institutional reputation, and long-term outcomes. A career ecosystem that prioritizes ROI helps to ensure that students are not only academically prepared but also strategically positioned to succeed in the workforce. This works to maximize the University’s value proposition to students, employers, and alumni.
Assistant Dean of Student Success and Director of the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
On December 17, 2024, a handful of offices processed several thousand grades. For many students, this resulted in a sigh of relief, or even celebration, but for some this news may not have been as joyous. On average, 100 students receive academic suspensions at the end of each semester. Of those 100 or so students, 50 percent of them appeal their suspension to the Scholastic Standards Committee. Nearly half of those appeals are approved each semester. The remaining students must sit out on suspension. Suspension terms last for one semester plus summer semester, or for an entire academic year.
Director of Student Leadership and Involvement
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Michigan Tech is currently home to 249 student organizations with 14 additional groups in the process of forming. These organizations contribute significantly to campus life and help to create a sense of belonging for many Huskies. During the 2023-2024 academic year alone, Student Leadership and Involvement oversaw over 180 travel requests, 600 event submissions, and $410,000 of allocated funding on behalf of student groups. This is no small feat, and we would not be able to do so without the support of advisors who provide day-to-day mentorship to each of our registered student organizations on campus.