Dear Colleagues,
I’m writing to share important news. As part of realigning Campus Life’s leadership team, we have examined ways to restructure that better prioritize two strategic goals – student flourishing and staff flourishing. At the same time, such an approach will allow us to bring additional experienced and diverse voices to the table to lead essential areas of Campus Life’s work.
To that end, we are repositioning my team’s functional areas to best support student flourishing activities and provide dedicated strategic leadership in staff flourishing, including development and support services.
New CBO/AVP role centering on staff flourishing
I am pleased to announce that Lina Vargas, formerly senior director of Campus Life’s Finance Service Center, now serves as chief business officer (CBO) and assistant vice president (AVP) of Campus Life. She reports directly to me and serves as an important thought partner for Dean Gelaye and other members of the Campus Life leadership team.
As senior director of the Finance Service Center, Lina oversaw financial operations for Campus Life, which operates on a $100 million budget and engages 300 regular and 600 student employees. The center’s staff of 10 provides financial support for a diverse range of Campus Life operations – including programmatic departments, auxiliaries, and Emory’s self-funded student insurance program. Financial operations span areas such as Housing Operations, Campus Dining, and the Emory Bookstore, as well as funds for student government associations and more than 600 other student organizations.
As CBO/AVP, Lina’s work continues to impact all of Campus Life. She still oversees budgets and finance, working with Finance team leads Cheytoria Penny, Asti Magby, and Vonyetta Hunter. In her new role, Lina will provide leadership to Bruce Covey and Kim Pfeffer, who direct Campus Life Tech Services and the EmoryCard Office, respectively. She will also manage the Barnes and Noble relationship with the Emory Bookstore. As a key partner in creating and executing Human Resources strategy and supporting services for staff, Lina will collaborate closely with Mekeshua North, who leads HR and Staff Development and reports to me.
This realignment enables organizations that are primarily staff-oriented to be better positioned to enhance the services, growth, and development for our outstanding Campus Life team and to continue the delivery of exceptional student services.
In addition to supporting Campus Life staff, we continue to focus on student flourishing. Chad Sunstein, Dining Services; Elaine Turner, Housing Operations; Scott Rausch, Residence Life and Sorority and Fraternity Life; and Ben Perlman in Student Center Operations and Events will report directly to me. These student-facing organizations will continue to focus on delivering the services that empower Emory students to flourish.
Tina Chang will continue reporting to me as we develop a strategy for our Communications team in concert with university Communications and Marketing.
Please join me in congratulating Lina and our other colleagues who are part of this vital realignment. Thank you for your continued patience with and support for necessary
changes – and for your tireless commitment to delivering the very best service to the Emory community. Be safe and well.
Take care,
David Clark
Vice President of Campus Life
