Zachary Irish has added an updated title to his desk as the new “Dean of Students” at Wheaton College, effective this fall 2024 semester.
Dean Zach Irish (from Wheaton College MA website)
After coming to Wheaton in 2019, Dean Irish was appointed “Interim Vice President Dean of Students” for 21 months, until the arrival of Dr. Parker. With the leadership of Dr. Parker and some restructuring of the Student Affairs division, this year Dr. Parker became “Vice President for Student Affairs” and Dean Irish’s official titles became “Associate Vice President for Student Affairs” and “Dean of Students”.
What do all of these titles mean exactly? In short, Dean Irish works cross-divisionally with Student Affairs, ResLife, SAIL, Health & Counseling, Campus Safety, Admissions, Student Financial Services, and Advising to support students daily.
More specifically, Dean Irish describes his role as “student support and accountability.” He works as a liaison between all of these departments and students, tackling conflicts such as interpersonal conflicts, facilities problems, and academic policies regarding students. He is primarily concerned with how to best support students, but also how to hold students accountable.
Holding students accountable looks like one-on-one discussions with students, asking them “How do we help you to get to class on time? How do we help you with time management?” and finding solutions together with students to such questions.
Apart from the day-to-day minutia, Dean Irish’s overall goal as Dean of Students is to improve the student experience at Wheaton. For example, he’s currently collaborating with Rachel Pink, director of SAIL, around club policies to “encourage engagement but also make sure our policies and procedures are consistent across the board.”
In short, Dean Irish wants students to know that he is “happy to meet any student any time.” He’s always free for a coffee at Emerson, lunch at Chase, or a walk around the Dimple! He finds that the “best way to advocate and support for students is to get to know the students.”
TLDR: Dean Irish wants “to see students succeed!” His office is located in Park Hall, and he welcomes students to drop in anytime with any questions or dilemmas they may have. And keep an eye out for his upcoming office hours!