Bryn Athyn College Alumni Magazine Spring/Summer 2017 | Page 36

running SPOTLIGHT
FACULTY
header
In addition to serving as dean, Kiri also taught a number of psychology classes.
been many improvements and
advancements in student affairs,
both programmatically and proce-
durally. For example, while dean,
Kiri helped evolve BAC's processes
in response to rapid changes in the
US Department of Education's in-
terpretation of the federal regula-
tion called Title IX, which involved
much research, training, and plan-
ning. In residence life, a housing
lottery was developed and imple-
mented under her supervision
which totally changed the way that
housing assignments were made
on campus. Spiritual life program-
ming was expanded under Kiri’s
tenure, as were student health ser-
vices. While dean, Kiri supported
the growth of the athletic depart-
36 | S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 7
ment into a full-fledged member
of the NCAA division III. In ad-
dition to these accomplishments
and others, Kiri also continued to
teach in the psychology depart-
ment. In fact, her background in
that field has proven incredibly
valuable to her as dean of students.
The majority of Kiri’s work
has been devoted to creating a
healthy environment in which the
school’s mission can best interact
with and benefit the student body.
With that in mind, the policies and
procedures that she has helped to
establish over the years share a
common thread of transparency
and a true respect for the students
who attend BAC. She says, “In stu-
dent affairs, we always try to find a
balance of encouraging age appro-
priate independence and knowing
when it’s time to step in.” Kiri sees
every situation as an educational
opportunity, and while there is so
much to learn in the classroom, for
the past six years in student affairs,
she has focused on the thousands
of learning moments outside of the
classroom. From residence life to
athletics, her mission has been to
connect learning goals to life after
college, helping to prepare students
for personal and professional suc-
cess down the road.
“Reach up, not down,” has
been an important philosophy
that Kiri has tried to act from in
her role as dean. The idea is to ap-
proach interactions with students
from the perspective that they
are capable of high caliber behav-
ior, and that to expect this from
students is a form of respect and
encouragement. Even when this
means enforcing rules and follow-
ing through with consequences,
she finds that communicating an
inherent belief in their ability to
choose wisely is effective. Kiri ex-
plains that this doesn’t mean she is
out there rallying students to buck
up and keep on going regardless
of the circumstances. To the con-
trary, she often finds herself listen-
ing to students and trying to help
them see that it’s ok to slow down
or take a step back when needed.
The reaching up, Kiri explains, is
not a blind forward grasping, but
rather an honest effort to do the
best we can in any given moment
and in any given situation.
Another philosophy that has
influenced her time as dean is to
“only take the power you have to
have.” Going hand in hand with
efforts to give as much indepen-
dence as possible to students
(within appropriate levels), this
idea of carefully choosing when