Formerly known as the Office of Student Conduct, the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability hopes the name change will better represent the office’s responsibilities and goals.
Annie Goodman/The Lion’s Roar

The university looks towards a new branding to focus on the well being of students. 

The Office of Student Conduct has been rebranded with the title of the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability. The office has decided to make this marketing move so that students are not only informed about the university’s disciplinary procedures, but also all of the resources and information their offices have to offer. The Director of the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability Dr. Gabe Willis explains why the department has decided to brand in this new direction 

“The name change came along with the disciplinary process as a whole,” said Willis. “I think some of the concerns we were seeing from students and the incidents happing on campus lent more towards us needing to be advocates and provide resources for certain students because not every issue that we have coming through our office is a disciplinary issue.”

Many issues arise on campus that need to be taken into account, and Student Advocacy and Accountability is branching out to cover all areas that students will need help with. Willis states why this name change was needed for the office.

“The game has changed a little bit,” said Willis. “It’s more issues that require resources and help more that conduct issues. That’s really what spurred the name change. We saw what was going on with our students and campus.”

With the new marketing of Student Advocacy and Accountability’s image, the office is also implementing new programs to upgrade its services for students. 

“Conversations are taking place right now about programs opportunities,” said Willis. “I think the name really leads to more opportunities to do programming here with our resources on campus.” 

For upcoming programming, the office is looking into collaborations with the University Health Center, the University Planning Council and the Pennington Student Activity Center. These upcoming collaborations would be done to better the mental, physical and spiritual well being of students. Willis hopes the new marketing of Student Advocacy and Accountability will create a better image for the office. 

“Hopefully, it will change their views about our office as a whole, and we won’t just look like disciplinarians that are only here when students get in trouble,” said Willis. “We want students to know that we are committed to their growth and development by giving them the proper resources.”