Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to join the COD community. I have dedicated my career to higher education and believe in its power to transform individuals’ lives. As a first-generation college student who grew up in Milwaukee, my undergraduate experience propelled me to places and experiences I could never have imagined. I want to work with you to help provide that experience for others.

Most recently, I served as interim vice president for Student Affairs at the California State University, Chico. Prior to that, I retired from my role as vice chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. 

However, my story may be a bit different than others. Immediately after high school, I worked in Milwaukee for five years as a telephone operator, factory worker, janitor and slaughterhouse butcher where I cut the heads off of steers. Upon losing one of my factory jobs, I entered a government program to help unskilled workers learn a new trade; I attended the Milwaukee Area Technical College. It was in this program that I met a teacher who both encouraged me and showed me how to apply to college. I began college at the age of 23 years and completed my undergraduate degree in 2.5 years. 

I earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, a Masters degree from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. from Indiana State University. I served in various capacities at Pima Community College (AZ), UW–Waukesha (WI), Dartmouth College (NH), Allegheny College (PA), Indiana State University (IN), Michigan State University (MI) and UW–Whitewater (WI). 

As your interim vice president, I will operate based on a fundamental set of beliefs: 

• Regardless of our role, we are ALL educators and impact students and each other through our interactions. 
• We all play a crucial role in our college’s mission/strategic plan. 
• The ability to achieve organizational goals is largely determined by our environments — and we are all responsible for creating environments that allow people to flourish. 
• Students have an obligation to dedicate themselves to the hard work of learning, broadening their horizons and contributing to our community. 
• What we focus on becomes magnified. If we look for the bad, we find it. If we look for the good, we find that as well. 
• Student learning occurs everywhere; it is not confined to classrooms, internships, athletic fields or any one venue. As educators, Student Services professionals foster students’ learning and strive to help students draw the connections between that learning and its applications in their lives.

These are challenging times for all of higher education, and the COD has seen its share of challenges. But those challenges pale in comparison to the strengths I have already heard and read about. I’m excited to join you as we build on those strengths and move forward together as one newly formed Division of Student Services.

—Interim Vice President Tom Rios