Boston College. Office of Student Development
Administrative history
The Office of Student Development was formed in 1985 when the Dean of Students Office merged with the Office of Student Programs and Resources (OSPAR). After longtime Dean of Students Edward J. Hanrahan, SJ, resigned in 1986, Robert A. Sherwood, formerly associate dean of student affairs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, became the first dean for student development, reporting to the vice president for student affairs. By 1987 the office was known as the Office of the Dean for Student Development.
The office was responsible for student life outside the classroom. Assistant and associate deans carried out the former OSPAR work: registering and advising student organizations, including the Undergraduate Government of Boston College, the Graduate Student Association and Senior Week; administering student activity fee funding; processing permits for student events and demonstrations; and running leadership development and volunteer programs. These functions later formed a distinct Student Programs Office within the office.
The office also oversaw community standards and the university judicial program, alcohol and drug education, counseling and guidance, off-campus student affairs, student safety, the Women’s Resource Center and the Sexual Assault Network. It advised international students and led intercultural programming, and it managed the university’s relationship with ROTC after Army ROTC returned to Boston College in 1984 through a cross-enrollment agreement with Northeastern University.
Sherwood left the deanship in 2007 to become a special advisor in the Alumni Association. Sheilah Shaw Horton, associate vice president for student affairs, served as dean for student development from 2008 until she left for Loyola University Maryland in 2011. In the following years the office’s functions were divided. Student conduct and crisis response moved to a reconstituted Office of the Dean of Students. The Student Programs Office became the Office of Student Involvement in 2014.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Boston College publications
Publications and printed materials produced by Boston College administration and students.
Collection is open for research. Digital content in this collection has been migrated from source media; digital use copies can only be accessed onsite in the Burns Library Reading Room.
Boston College student musical ensembles collection
Records, predominantly programs, photographs, and recordings, of official Boston College student musical ensembles and their predecessors, including both instrumental and vocal ensembles under the purview of the Bands Program and the Music Department.
Collection is open for research.
Some audiovisual recordings have been digitally copied and can only be accessed in the Burns Library Reading Room. Remaining audiovisual recordings are not available for playback due to format impermanence and have not been reformatted. Please let Burns Library Public Services know of your specific interest; if possible, reformatting will be scheduled.