UVA Launches Search for Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer

Rotunda from the bottom of the steps of the Rotunda

(Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)

The University of Virginia has begun its search for a new vice president and chief student affairs officer, who will lead more than 200 student affairs professionals as they support students across the University, from enrollment through graduation.

The vice president shares responsibility for providing the best possible educational and residential experience, within and outside the classroom. The new leader will succeed Patricia M. Lampkin, who announced her retirement in January after more than 40 years working in higher education, including the last 18 as UVA’s vice president and chief student affairs officer. Lampkin, who has stayed on to assist students and the University during the pandemic, will leave an extraordinary legacy marked by her consistent dedication to and advocacy for the University’s students.

President Jim Ryan has appointed a 12-person committee, including faculty, staff and students, to lead the search and solicit feedback from the community.

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“Our goal is to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students and prepare them to be ethical citizen-leaders in an increasingly complex world,” Ryan said. “That’s what Pat Lampkin has done, and I’m confident the search committee will help us find a candidate who can build on her remarkable legacy.”

The Division of Student Affairs includes the Office of the Dean of Students (including Residence Life), the Department of Student Health and Counseling and Psychological Services, the Office of African American Affairs and the University Career Center. Supporting the University’s tradition of student self-governance, the chief student affairs officer also partners with student leaders involved in the Honor Committee, the University Judiciary Committee, Student Council and hundreds more student-led organizations. The role will report to both the president and the provost.

“Students are central to who we are at UVA,” UVA Provost Liz Magill said. “Our ambition is to develop leaders for the 21st century, and this depends on encouraging and nurturing every dimension of our students, intellectual, social and emotional – in short, their heads and their hearts. We are looking for a leader who gets up every day excited to create a student experience that prepares our graduates for lives of purpose and meaning, and I know we will find one.”

The search committee, listed fully below, includes representatives from many of departments and schools, as well as two student representatives, fourth-year student Davion Zeno and fourth-year student and Student Council President Ellen Yates. Margot Rogers, senior adviser to the president, strategic initiatives, will chair the panel.

“We take very seriously our charge in this search process and welcome feedback from the community as we seek someone to build on Pat’s success and support our students from enrollment to graduation and beyond,” Rogers said. “We would love to hear from students and others across UVA as we begin our search for this position, which has such a big impact on our students and their experience here.”

Members of the community can learn more about the search and provide feedback to the committee in this survey.

Members of the search committee are:

  • Margot Rogers (chair), senior adviser to the president, strategic initiatives.
  • Dr. Maurice Apprey, dean of African American affairs and professor of psychiatry, School of Medicine.
  • Anne Coughlin, Lewis F. Powell Jr. Professor of Law.
  • Bo Greenwood, director of development, Student Affairs.
  • Devin Harris, associate professor, School of Engineering and Applied Science; faculty director, Clark Scholars Program.
  • Archie Holmes, vice provost for academic affairs; professor of electrical engineering
  • Kelsey Johnson, professor of astronomy; director, Echols Scholars Program.
  • Colette Sheehy, senior vice president for operations.
  • Michael Suarez, professor of English; director, Rare Book School; honorary curator of Special Collections.
  • Carla Williams, director of athletics.
  • Ellen Yates, fourth-year student; Student Council president.
  • Davion Zeno, fourth-year student.

Media Contact

Wesley P. Hester

Office of University Communications