Dates

• Usage: 2014-present
• Usage: 1985 - 2014
• Usage: 1978 - 1985
• Usage: 1967 - 1978

Biography

Boston College created the Student Activities Office in 1967, when a study of student life led to the creation of the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs. Its first director, Carl Kowalski, took on the extracurricular duties previously handled by George L. Drury, SJ, as director of student personnel services. The office advised student organizations, worked with the Undergraduate Government of Boston College to allocate the student activities fee, booked McElroy Commons and other campus spaces, and set policy for speakers, trips and fundraising. In 1970 the office helped negotiate the settlement that made The Heights an independent corporation.

Under Carole Wegman, director from 1972 to 1985, the office set its first policies on contracts and vendors and expanded into leadership development, new student orientation, the annual Student Guide and advising for international students and veterans. In 1978 it became the Office of Student Programs and Resources (OSPAR), reflecting a shift from social programming to student development.

In 1985 OSPAR merged with the Dean of Students Office to form the Office of Student Development. Its functions were at first carried out by assistant deans and later by a distinct Student Programs Office, which ran student organizations, programming, leadership development and the annual awards for student leaders. Jean Yoder, who joined OSPAR as international student advisor around 1979, served through these changes as assistant dean for student development and intercultural affairs and later as associate dean and interim director of the Student Programs Office, developing diversity programs including “Prejudice Reduction” and “BC Pride.”

In 2014 the Student Programs Office became the Office of Student Involvement. The office focuses on four areas: student organizations, student governance, leadership education and campus-wide programming. It advises more than 150 student organizations, UGBC, the Campus Activities Board and the Student Organization Funding Committee; runs leadership programs and the annual Ever to Excel Awards; coordinates traditions such as the Student Involvement Fair and Senior Week; and manages O’Connell House, the campus student union. As of 2026, the office is part of the Division of Student Affairs.

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records: