Last Thursday, Provost Anthony Masi announced the appointment of Andre Costopoulos to the position of Dean of Students. Costopoulos’ term will begin Nov. 15, and end June 30, 2016.
Costopoulos will take over for Associate Dean of Students Linda Starkey, who had been serving as the temporary Dean of Students since Aug. 1, 2012.
“The Dean of Students has primary responsibility for protecting student rights, fostering academic integrity, and providing impartial oversight of the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures,” Masi wrote in the MRO announcing Costopoulos’ appointment.
In an interview with the Tribune, Costopoulos—who is currently the associate dean of arts and a professor of anthropology—shared his reasons for applying for the position.
“It wasn’t an easy decision … but I think it’s something that I need to do right now,” he said. “It’s an important moment in student affairs right now at the university. I think there is a lot of work to do … and, well, I want to facilitate that.”
Costopoulos also outlined the challenges he expects to face in his new role.
“The Dean of Students is part of all the [university] groups in some ways, and has to represent each of them to all the others, [which is a] big challenge,” he said. “And [I will go] from having 7,000 students to worry about, to having [around] 34,000. It’s daunting.”
Costopoulos also addressed the revision of the Code of Student Conduct, as recommended by Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi’s recently published Report on the Open Forum. Costopoulos said he wants to participate in the process as much as possible and stressed the importance of patience in such an undertaking.
“Before you make an actual change to … the Green Book, you want to think very carefully through the potential unintended effects that it [could] have,” he explained. “That’s the purpose of all these endless committees. [It] all takes time, but that time is not wasted.”
Costopoulos said his goals include enhancing communication between different members of the McGill community and increasing recruitment and retention of Indigenous students and first generation university students.
“There are some obstacles to participation in higher education,” Costopoulos said. “That’s always been a problem that’s [been] important to me, and I want to see what I can do to … maybe remove some of those obstacles, or at least minimize their impact.”
