The Article below was published in Vol. 135, Issue 3 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on November 8, 2019
By Emma Overton ‘22
Managing Editor and News Editor
During a Friday, November 1, 2019 interview with Lake Forest College Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Andrea Conner, Stentor staff confirmed the October 17, 2019 resignation of Stacy Oliver-Sikorski, after only eight months in her position as Director of Residential Life.
With no official announcement from the College’s administration, Stentor staff did notice that on October 23 the email signature of then-Associate Director of Residence Life Karl Turnlund changed to indicate his new status as Interim Director of Residence Life. This prompted Stentor staff to reach out to Turnlund, who recommended that contact be made with Dean Conner regarding comments about the changes in the Office of Residence Life staff.
When asked to explain why no formal announcement has been made to students regarding the resignation of Oliver-Sikorski, Conner stated that the announcement “is something that has been on my to-do list, but in light of recent campus incidents, has been pushed back.” Conner further stated that the College will “soon be posting to replace Oliver-Sikorski.”
In addition to the recent departure of Oliver-Sikorski, Conner said the “department is without a Residence Director for Moore and Roberts Halls after the late summer 2019 resignation of Moore and Roberts Hall Residence Director (RD), Jessica Murphy.”
Recalling that “there has been a lot of untimely transition in the Residence Director positions as well, and [we]hope to turn a corner where we see longer tenures within the RD positions,” Conner further stated, “when I was a Residence Director, I did it for two years. It’s pretty common to do [the job]for two years, maybe three, but we’ve had some people who have stayed for less than that so that has been hard on everybody.”
Conner also noted that another resignation in Residence Life occurred at “the end of 2018 when the Associate Dean and Director of Residence Life, Andrew Pollom, resigned to take a position elsewhere.”
In explaining the recent changes in both personnel and in the positions themselves, Conner said that upon her “arrival at Lake Forest College in the summer of 2018, Andrew Pollom was an Associate Dean and Director of Residence Life and, at the time, Oliver-Sikorski was a Senior Associate Director of Residence Life.” Conner further detailed that the department had also “just lost another Co-Associate Director of Residence Life, Mary Duckworth, and there was already sort of some instability in the top half of the Residence Life leadership.”
Conner added that “following the departure of Dean Pollom, the responsibilities of the Associate Dean [portion]of his job, like leading our support processes for students and working with students who are doing leaves and withdrawals, went to another Associate Dean, Erin Hoffman, and because the Associate Dean position was no longer a part of the Director of Residence Life position, the [rermaining responsibilities formed the]core of the Director of Residence Life position, which Oliver-Sikorski assumed this past March.”
According to the College’s website, these responsibilities involve “manag[ing]the strategic planning and vision setting . . . identifying priorities for enhancing the residential experience, represent[ing]the Office of Residence Life on campus-wide committees and manag[ing]housing operations, including room assignment processes.”
While Conner stated she was “unable to comment as to the reasons for Pollom’s and Oliver-Sikorski’s resignations,” she did offer that “both left with other jobs in hand, and we wish them both very well.”
Katie Harris ’20, of McHenry, Illinois, who is a Resident Assistant (RA) in Moore Hall, responded to Stentor staff questions regarding how recent personnel changes have affected her experience. Harris stated: “I think the day-to-day experience as an RA hasn’t changed much, but I’ve definitely felt a bit lost without the consistency of a supervisor. I had Karl Turnlund as my RD for two years. His support and guidance made a huge difference for me as an RA. I feel like I haven’t had that same support this year, and that’s been kind of hard. I’m hoping that once the positions in Residence Life are filled, we’ll all feel a bit more settled.”
Acknowledging the effects of the recent departures on RAs and students, Conner commented that she “hopes to stabilize our transitions. I hope to turn a corner where we see longer tenures within the RD positions, and I hope the person we hire to be the Director of Residence Life is someone who will fall in love with the place in the way I have and will stay awhile. I really want to acknowledge that it is hard on the residents and hard on the RAs when there are quick turnarounds and we want that to stop.”
Emma Overton can be reached at overtoneg@mx.lakeforest.edu
