New ResLife director hired

A new Residence Life director with 17 years of experience in Residence Life has been hired at Truman State University.

New Residence Life Director Jamie Van Boxel will assume the position July 1. He has about 17 years of experience in residence life.

He said he first worked as a residential assistant when he was an undergraduate student and then went on to work as a hall director at a few universities. He served at his most recent job for nine years as the area director at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he was in charge of supervising hall directors.

Janna Stoskopf, vice president for student affairs, said the position was first advertised in October, but because of delays, the search process really began early in the spring semester. Her role in the search was to evaluate the information she received from the search committee and then decide which candidate to offer the job. She said the results of the search were announced at the beginning of April.

Stoskopf said the Residence Life director is in charge of the entire Residence Life department, which includes budget, planning and staffing responsibilities. She said a new Residence Life curriculum is being developed, and the new director will have a role in moving it forward.

Stoskopf said the new director has experience working with living-learning communities, residential curricula and mental health issues.

Van Boxel said his first goal as director is to learn about the culture here so he can apply his experience in Residence Life to help contribute to the Truman experience. He said the goal of Residence Life should be to support students in their goals and experiences outside of the classroom.

“The role of the director is to listen to the voice of the students, the residents in our residence halls,” Van Boxel said.

He said he will speak with student leaders to determine which improvements should be made to the current Residence Life program.