麻豆影院

Erika Randall, new associate dean for student success, wants CU 麻豆影院 to be a university in which students feel that their authentic selves are woven into the campus community

Posters from dance performances and paintings created by friends, family and colleagues adorn Erika Randall鈥檚 bright blue walls.

She points to one referencing the children鈥檚 book, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, where one of the story鈥檚 characters, a woman who is soaring through the air with the assistance of a flock of flying books, is made to look like herself.

鈥淚 love this book so much and its messages about writing one鈥檚 own story and the importance of taking care of the stories of others,鈥� says Randall. 鈥淢y partner, Megan, knew how much I loved it and re-imagined a character from the book as me. 鈥� The painting hangs in my office as a reminder to be both a custodian to the dreams of others and the author of my own imagination and becoming.鈥�

Which is a mission Randall, the College of Arts and Sciences鈥� new associate dean for student success at the 麻豆影院, has taken to heart. She鈥檚 determined to bring people together and celebrate their passions with an apparent ease and tireless excitement.

She believes in her students' potential and wants to make CU 麻豆影院 a place where each student feels what she calls 鈥渢heir authentic selves woven into the community鈥檚 fabric.鈥�

鈥淪tudent success asks, 鈥榳hat are we doing to support each individual student, and how are we supporting those students to want to become part of something bigger?鈥欌�� says Randall. 鈥淗ow are we finding ways to truly meet the student where they are and help move them through the university that they need?鈥�

From narrow conservatory thinking to the broad liberal arts

For Randall, part of the process of helping students discover a broader purpose begins with expanding what the university believes it and its students can achieve. She frequently speaks of her interest in widening ideas, fields of study and points of view by identifying, playing with and crossing self-imposed boundaries.

鈥淧eople talk about how selfish artists are,鈥� notes Randall. 鈥淎ny discipline can get into this: Is it right for me? What am I going to do? And what am I going to听get听back? Versus what am I going to听give听back. 鈥μ齇ften in the arts and within other disciplines, there is听a fairly narrow container of identity and understanding of success.鈥�

Randall grappled with these constraints early in her dance education. She studied at The Julliard School but found conservatory instruction narrow and restrictive. When she transferred to the University of Washington and later completed her Master of Fine Arts at The Ohio State University, she discovered what she felt was boundless creative possibility by synthesizing disparate fields.

鈥淚 was dancing and studying feminist theory and film and working with independent film artists to make multidimensional performance-scapes,鈥� says Randall. 鈥淚t got me really excited about what liberal arts education could do for artists.鈥�

Randall began to collaborate with thinkers, researchers, artists and makers鈥攚hat she calls 鈥渋maginearians鈥濃�攁nd realized that her field could improve her capacity as a dancer and help transform communities for the better.

鈥淭he work at a university level and a learning level didn't just stop with the bound of my body or a student's body,鈥� says Randall. 鈥淚t became about knowing ourselves, so that we can give back to communities and be in service to ourselves, to our art and to the planet.鈥�

As her interest in teaching at the university level grew, she found CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 theatre and dance department especially compelling because of its desire to improve lives through innovation.

鈥淭he call that went out to hire me was steeped in social justice and anti-racism work,鈥� says Randall. 鈥淭his was in 2006 and 2007, before schools were using language around decolonization, particularly with regard to dance programs. 鈥� The humans here were both kicking ass in the field and transforming it at the same time.鈥�

Inverting students鈥� relationship with higher education and the academy鈥檚 relationship with students

Once at CU 麻豆影院, Randall developed a teaching style noted for its emphasis on collaboration, embrace of failure and celebration of individuality. Rachel Halmrast, who has worked closely with Randall throughout their undergraduate experience and especially in ballet classes, notes that Randall鈥檚 distinct style and her approachability were transformative.

鈥淚 would be a completely different person if I hadn't met Erika, and I attribute so much growth to her and my relationship with her,鈥� says Halmrast, a senior earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. 鈥淭hrough her guidance, I can see how the field (of dance) can fit onto me, instead of how I can fit into the field.鈥�

Over 15 years as a faculty member at CU 麻豆影院, Randall excelled in helping master dance while leaving space to break from conventions and innovate. She says that when people give themselves permission to embrace their disparate interests, they achieve increasingly compelling, creative work. She calls this process 鈥渁nding鈥� or 鈥渁mpersanding.鈥�

鈥淚t has been really exciting how galvanizing the notion of 鈥榓nding鈥� and 鈥榓mpersanding鈥� has been,鈥� says Randall. 鈥淚t鈥檚 why I wanted to leave conservatory thinking鈥攖o be in a liberal arts education where, when I study the history and theory of French feminist scholars from the 1970s, the way they speak of the body changes my making with my own body.鈥�

She believes the inversion allows faculty, students and staff to become their most creative selves and unleash their imaginations, no matter the problem they are trying to solve. Randall鈥檚 fascination with unlocking new pathways and ideas using a broad, liberal arts education matches the vision James W.C. White, acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences established for the college.

鈥淓rika is the person we ask to be the visionary when it comes to student success,鈥� says White. 鈥淭o think about new ways in which we can serve our students and then be the messenger of that ethos of service that we want to establish in the college.鈥�

White created the position in 2017 to move the college away from reacting to student needs and, instead, to proactively connect students with caring, responsive networks that anticipate barriers to their success. He believes Randall will broaden the vision of the college and improve the college鈥檚 ability to connect meaningfully with students.

鈥淲e wanted someone with compassion for students,鈥� notes White. 鈥淭his is a person who will be out there talking to students when they first come to campus, meeting with student government organizations and conveying to students that we are, indeed, there for them. This is one of Erika鈥檚 great strengths.鈥�

The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to improving its student retention and graduation rates, especially for Black, Indigenous and people of color, underrepresented students, and students who are the first generation in their families to complete college degrees. Randall鈥檚 ability to recognize the complexity of students鈥� distinct backgrounds combined with her desire to understand the way students experience CU 麻豆影院 position her to fulfill this goal, observers say.

鈥淓rika is responsive; she is communicative, and she is highly transparent,鈥� notes White. 鈥淭hat combined with her warmth and her humaneness make her the perfect person for this job.鈥�

Randall and the A&S student success team鈥攆aculty, academic advisors, academic coaches, program staff and recruiters鈥攆ocus their programs on student belonging, which they hope underscores students鈥� wellness and gives them opportunities to flourish.

鈥淚 wish that I could set up a little lemonade stand like Lucy that says, 鈥榯he dean is in,鈥欌�� says Randall. 鈥淎nd then talk to everybody, because it's when I have those conversations鈥攚hen I get to actually meet someone鈥攊t helps me learn through their experience. I want to be a dean with an open door. I really do.鈥�

For Halmrast, having Randall as the associate dean for student success is exciting because it means Randall can share her openness and approachability with students across campus. Simply by being herself, Halmrast says, Randall will strengthen the CU 麻豆影院 community.

鈥淚f you meet her or you cross paths with her or you even bump into her, your trajectory will change because, with her, you have so much space to believe in yourself,鈥� says Halmrast. 鈥淵ou see it reflected in her, you can see how much she shows up for you and cares for you and believes in you.鈥�

鈥淏ecause you see that, you can start doing it for yourself.鈥�