{"id":50,"date":"2018-12-20T17:30:27","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T17:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/?p=50"},"modified":"2018-12-21T12:30:56","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T20:30:56","slug":"relationships-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/relationships-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Relationships Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a mellow Friday morning at Harvey Mudd. Students coast on bikes and boards toward early classes, squirrels chase each other around the trunks of oak trees. For Anna Gonzalez, Harvey Mudd College\u2019s vice president for student affairs and dean of students, today is anything but mellow. \u201cThe power was out at home,\u201d Gonzalez says, as she arrives on campus. \u201cI had to get ready in the dark!\u201d<\/p>\n

When she arrives at the Division of Student Affairs office, there are already a few high-priority phone calls to return. Changes must be made to the day\u2019s tightly packed schedule, so Gonzalez and her unflappable executive assistant Kim Nykanen reshuffle the agenda, which includes meetings, meal dates, phone calls and a ribbon cutting.<\/p>\n

8 a.m.<\/h2>\n

On the way to her first meeting of the day, Gonzalez navigates the short distance between her office in the Platt Campus Center and the dining hall in a hurry, smiling and waving to students as she goes. Though she only arrived to take her position at Harvey Mudd in August, Gonzalez already seems at home, greeting people with hugs, sharing a laugh in passing, even on a hectic morning. \u201cI love it,\u201d she says of the atmosphere on campus. \u201cPeople work really hard; it\u2019s fast paced. But they really care about each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anna
With Stan Skipworth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, Gonzalez and Stan Skipworth, assistant vice president for campus safety at The Claremont Colleges Services, discuss security at Harvey Mudd. It\u2019s her first meeting with Skipworth, who agrees with her suggestion that they make it a regular occurrence and says he appre- ciates her initiative. \u201cI\u2019m interested in renewing and building relationships,\u201d Gonzalez says. \u201cI want people to meet the individuals who help keep them safe on our campus. It\u2019s important to have staff, students and officers to build relationships with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzalez wears her HMC spirit on her sleeve\u2014and on her fingernails, phone case and coffee mug. She also takes it to heart, seeing the value of an HMC community that extends beyond campus. \u201cI want parents and alumni to partner with us; be role models,\u201d she says. \u201cParents can really help us by reaffirming our good messages to the students, perhaps by saying, \u2018Have you looked at career services?\u2019 \u2018If you aren\u2019t feeling well, go to student health.\u2019 Just the basic, don\u2019t-walk-by-yourself-at-night kind of thing. If that\u2019s being reaffirmed by people the students trust in their lives, it sometimes has more resonance than when they hear it from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

9 a.m.<\/h2>\n

Back in student affairs, Gonzalez meets with health and wellness deans Michelle Harrison and Rae Chresfield and Gary DeGroot, director of Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services. \u201cI want students to have an under- standing of comprehensive wellness,\u201d Gonzalez says, \u201cnot just in emergency treatment or crisis events. Comprehensive, meaning physical, emotional, cultural and mental. If they\u2019re spiritual, that, too. People think of wellness as being one or the other, but it\u2019s really all these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anna
With health and wellness staff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gonzalez tries to give students many options for engaging in activities that promote wellness, from online avatar-based exercises that promote healthy cognitive behavior to pop-up events to decompression sessions and more. \u201cWe are such driven individuals that we tend to not make time for ourselves in that way. But we have to make the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Gonzalez, making the time for personal wellness includes regular exercise and a healthy diet. It also includes Rafael \u201cRafa\u201d Nadal, the 9-year-old Japanese Chin spaniel who is her almost constant companion and has become a fixture in the student affairs office. \u201cHaving the dog is a wellness thing,\u201d she says. Trained as an emotional support animal, Rafa is available for students who could use some furry friendship as well.<\/p>\n

10 a.m.<\/h2>\n

The College\u2019s Director of Community Engagement Gabriela Gamiz and Gonzalez have regular meetings that include discussion of an overarching goal: \u201cHow can every experience at HMC encourage students to think about their impact in the world?\u201d Gonzalez says. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re working on. I believe that our students really care about making changes that make our global society better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anna
With Gabriela Gamiz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Noon<\/h2>\n

Today\u2019s lunchtime meeting is with North Dorm student leaders, Chris Sundberg (associate dean for campus life) and Leslie Hughes (assistant vice president for student affairs). \u201cI meet with student leaders all the time. At least a few times per week. That\u2019s how I learn how I can support them,\u201d she says. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be doing my job if I didn\u2019t meet with different students every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anna
With Nick Shepherd \u201921<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2 p.m.\u20135 p.m.<\/h2>\n

After lunch, Gonzalez and Rafa mix some recreation into their schedule, following indoor meetings with staff and students with some time outdoors. When time allows, Gonzalez takes Rafa on \u201cwellness walks\u201d with students. Today\u2019s walk had to be postponed, but they still made it out of the office for a ribbon cutting event, celebrating the opening of the Wellness Greenhouse, a student-led endeavor to provide a place for anyone at HMC to relax and de-stress with some gardening.<\/p>\n

\"Anna<\/p>\n

5:15 p.m.<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s nearly dinner time, and Gonzalez\u2019s day isn\u2019t over yet. Tonight\u2019s schedule includes an Honor Board hearing (she attends all of them) and dinner with student leadership. \u201cAt HMC and specifically at student affairs, we are preparing students to be responsible adults, helping them learn how to live outside of HMC, teaching accountability. And along the way, I hope that we can also role model for them a healthy sense of fun, because it\u2019s all about balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"dog\"
Rafa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a mellow Friday morning at Harvey Mudd. Students coast on bikes and boards toward early classes, squirrels chase each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-day-in-the-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/fall-winter-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}