Linda Baughman, vice president for student affairs at the University of St. Thomas, spoke with MyVillager about her new role, efforts to strengthen relationships between students and neighborhood residents, and priorities including student well-being, belonging and support for first-generation and international students.
From the article:
Parents like the safety that comes with living on campus, Baughman said, and it makes the university’s many resources more readily accessible to students. These include everything from academic tutoring to recreational facilities to St. Thomas’ Center for Well-Being with its coaches and counselors to aid students in taking care of themselves.
“When we look at the world of student affairs, my priorities include supporting student well-being and student connection, creating community and belonging,” she said. “We know all of those are tied to students graduating, finishing what they set out to do here.”
Another priority, Baughman said, is “increasing our support for first-generation students. We continue to see this population growing at St. Thomas. We continue to enroll more international students, and we’re paying attention to support them, too.
“I’m inspired daily by the students here,” Baughman said. “We have students who are working multiple jobs, supporting families and are so committed to their college education. I look at what our students are doing volunteering in the community. Last year, we had over 4,200 students volunteering, and we only have about 6,000 undergraduate students. They collectively invested over 151,000 hours into the community volunteering.”
