Division of Student Affairs

What the division does

Student Affairs is the largest division on campus by headcount — about 310 full-time staff and more than 600 student employees — and runs the services a student touches between classes. It is led by Dr. Darius Whitcomb, vice chancellor for student affairs since 2021, who came to Porter after twelve years in residence life and a stint as a dean of students at a technical university in the Upper Midwest.

The division’s job, as Whitcomb puts it at every orientation, is “to make sure the reason you leave is that you graduated.” Its work is measured against the strategic plan’s retention goals, especially the gap between first-generation and continuing-generation students.

Departments

This year’s priorities

Each fall the division picks a short list of things it will be held to by May. For 2026–27:

• Housing at 98 percent. Clear the overflow wait-list by the end of October, and open 64 beds in Depot Apartments for spring after the lounge conversions finish.
• Counseling access. Hold the wait for a first appointment under seven business days through November, the month it usually breaks; two counselors were added this summer.
• Early alert. Contact every first-year student flagged by an instructor within 48 hours, working with the colleges’ advisers.
• Basic needs. Keep the Founders Union food pantry open five days a week and move emergency grants to a two-day turnaround.

Progress is reported to the chancellor’s cabinet in January and May and to Student Senate the week after.

Where the money comes from

About two-thirds of the division is funded by students directly: housing and meal-plan charges pay for housing and dining, and the segregated fee ($1,420 a year in 2026–27, shown on the tuition page) pays for health services, counseling, recreation, Founders Union and student organizations. The Student Senate’s Segregated Fee Allocation Committee reviews every fee-funded budget each February and votes on the student-activity portion outright. The remaining third — the Dean of Students Office, career services and accessibility services — comes from the general operating budget.

Help after hours

• Emergency: call 911, then Campus Safety at (715) 555–0191.
• Mental health crisis: the counseling after-hours line is answered around the clock; the number is on the back of every Porter Card.
• On-call dean: a Student Affairs administrator is on call every night and weekend for hospitalizations, deaths, fires and anything that will need a dean in the morning. Campus Safety or a residence hall director will reach them.
• A student you are worried about: file a CARE referral through the Dean of Students Office. It goes to a support team, not to conduct. Short-term food, housing or emergency-cash help runs through Porter CARES.

Raising a concern

Start with the department involved; most problems are settled there in a day or two. If it is not, the dean of students can step in on anything affecting a student’s enrollment, and the student ombuds will help informally and confidentially. Complaints about conduct decisions follow the appeal steps in the student conduct process. The vice chancellor’s office takes anything still unresolved after that and answers in writing within ten business days.

Parents and families: the office is glad to talk, within the limits of FERPA. A student can sign a release in MyPorter that lets staff discuss specific records with you.