Thomas Mogan started as the new Dean of Students and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at the beginning of this month, coming to Boston College from his previous role as Director of Student Development at Villanova University.
“I really enjoyed my time at Villanova, but this was a wonderful opportunity to come to Boston College,” Mogan said. “The timing was right in terms of being ready for a new, professional opportunity.”
Vice President for Student Affairs Barbara Jones named Mogan the new Dean of Students and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs in October.
“It is exciting for Student Affairs to have Tom Mogan join us as associate vice president / Dean of Students,” Jones said in an email. “Dean Mogan has already shown his commitment to engaging with the student body through his ‘Dinners with the Dean’ program. I hope students will also take advantage of his open office hours to get to know more about him and the Dean of Students office.”
He succeeds former Dean of Students, Paul Chebator, who retired in May after 34 years at BC. Mogan brings experience with student affairs from his former job at Villanova, and the Office of the Dean of Students (DOS) is eager to work with him, said Carole Hughes, senior associate dean of students, in an email.
DOS is a part of the Division of Student Affairs that focuses on planning, implementing, and evaluating programs and services that promote student development. It oversees Assistance for Students in Crisis or Distress, Community Standards, Disability Services, and Off-Campus Student Life.
Mogan hopes to make the DOS office more than a place students go for disciplinary action, with plans to increase outreach efforts to students. Before moving to BC, he spent 20 years working in student life and teaching history at Villanova, where he said he found his role as an educator outside the classroom.
“I really enjoyed working with students in that capacity to help them sort of learn and grow and develop their leadership skills through programming events on campus,” he said.
As Director of Student Development at Villanova, Mogan worked closely with the school’s Student Government Association and said he believes he will have a role in advising the Undergraduate Government at Boston College (UGBC), which is currently overseen by the Office of Student Involvement.
“We’re just going to take a look at the advising structure and see what makes sense,” Mogan said. “I think that it would be beneficial to both me and to UGBC to have a relationship with the Dean of Students office,” Mogan said.
He also plans to evaluate the new student conduct guidelines, as well as the partnership created between UGBC and the Campus Activities Board, which was created this academic year.
“For me, coming in with a whole new perspective, I think it’s going to be good for me to sort of evaluate the changes that have already taken place,” he said. “And so I think we’re going to do a lot of evaluating—is it working well, are we communicating expectations to students clearly.”
Another goal Mogan has for the semester is to focus on reaching out to students. Rather than simply meeting with student leaders on campus, he wants to help students who are still transitioning or struggling. With this, he wants to improve the BC student experience, he said.
Mogan described the mission of DOS as one not only to care for the students, but also to promote their success and learning.
“We’re not necessarily teaching in the classroom, but we’re helping to support all the learning that happens inside the classroom by providing students with the support that they need,” he said.
“The first semester is to really learn as much as I can about the Boston College experience for students and how we can help to make the experience a better one and how we can work on things that we need to work on,” Mogan said.
Featured Image by Ruolin Yu / Heights Staff
