Dr. Todd Holcomb, the last of five potential candidates selected by a national search committee to take on the position of CU's Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (VCSA), described himself at an open campus forum yesterday as a great motivator, a listener, and a big-picture thinker.

Currently serving as Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Iowa State University, a position he has held since 2003, Holcomb has accumulated more than 20 years of experience in the field of higher education administration since his three-year tenure as Residence Hall Director at Texas Tech University beginning in 1984.

At an hour-long open campus forum in Room 425 of the University Memorial Center, Holcomb sat down with several faculty members from Judicial Affairs, Student Affairs, and other university divisions who were interested in gaining a better understanding of his background, experience, and vision for the future of the University of Colorado.

"Ron Stump was well-liked and well-respected," said Holcomb of current VCSA Stump, who had held the position for 11 years. "I will be different than him as any new Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs would be different than him. I don't anticipate that greatness changing, but only to take what he has developed and build on it."

To this end, Holcomb said that he would spend the first several months as VCSA "listening." Listening to what constituents from university divisions and student groups feel is working and where they feel changes could be made. He would then also pursue a strong understanding of the vision and mission of the university from the perspective of the president and the chancellor, with the ultimate goal of melding all of their perspectives together.

"I believe in being very proactive," he said. "You're going to see me out and about, you're going to see me interacting with students, and you're going to see me at campus events and activities. I have an open-door policy as far as students bringing their issues to me. I'm not always the right person to solve them, but I can always act as a resource and a listening post."

Holcomb gave several examples of his constant efforts to actively engage students such as how he spends time each week working out in the student Rec Centers, has spent time serving students food and drinks in dining halls, and even once spent a morning with a student and a delivery-truck driver who began food deliveries to campus dining facilities at 4:30 a.m.

Holcomb said that these interactions not only give him a better rapport with the students, but it also opens the door for him to experience and understand what issues they are facing on a personal level. He said that, in making decisions, he always tries to be collaborative and create win/win situations, but "sometimes you can't always do that, so ultimately you have to understand the vision or mission of the university and make a decision which reflects that."

When asked what changes or priorities he would make as VCSA, Holcomb described his passion and commitment to diversity and retention. As a member on the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity for nine years, Holcomb has helped to implement several programs to increase both the recruitment and retention of students of color at a university with ethnicity percentages very similar to those at CU. Holcomb also mentioned prioritizing broader collaborative efforts between CU's Student Affairs and Academic Affairs offices in order to increase the rate of retention for all students.

"He seemed like a very knowledgeable and experienced candidate and had some interesting perspectives due to his diverse experiences." said Dustin Farivar, Tri-Executive for the University of Colorado Student Union, who visited with Holcomb yesterday at a forum with student leaders. "What was most important to us as UCSU was a willingness to actively engage with student leadership on campus."

As the final potential candidate selected by the national student and faculty search committee, Holcomb's visit concludes the last major step before a decision is made. According to committee member Michael Grant, Associate Vice Chancellor of Undergraduate Education, the committee will convene on Friday to discuss what aspects of each candidate they liked and did not like, and those conclusions will then be submitted to the Provost.

The Provost will then select a final candidate as CU's VCSA, but, according to Grant, there is no date scheduled for him to announce the decision. Grant estimated two weeks would be needed. Contact Lance Vaillancourt about this story at (303) 443-6272, ext. 125, or at vaillancourt@coloradodaily.com.