Aaron Austin has been named associate vice president for Student Affairs, Student Life at 麻豆破解版 State University. The appointment was made by Teri Hall, WSU vice president for Student Affairs. Austin will begin his duties on Monday, Sept. 18.
Austin, 43, will supervise the areas of Student Involvement, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Student Conduct and Community Standards. He will also work closely with Academic Affairs to increase student engagement in and out of the classroom.
鈥溌槎蛊平獍� State University is so lucky to have Aaron Austin joining us in Student Affairs,鈥� said Hall. 鈥淣ot only does Aaron have outstanding professional history at a variety of institutions, he is a first-generation college student who has researched and is committed to helping us close our achievement gap of underserved students. Aaron brings exactly the right mix of experiences and attitudes that Student Affairs and the entire university community needs at this moment. And to top it off, he is warm, likeable and funny.鈥�
Austin has been the vice president of Student Life at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, since June 2012. Prior to that, he was assistant director of Residence Life for University Student Housing at Texas Tech University.
鈥淚 am a strong proponent of challenging groups and individuals to find solutions to their problems,鈥� said Austin. 鈥淚 believe this is the true art of advising and means you have to be willing to let a group stumble so that lessons can be learned and growth can occur. It is through this balance of challenge and support that I believe I have been able to help students achieve personal and organizational success.
鈥淭hroughout my career as an advisor to leaders and organizations, I think I have been most successful in establishing positive relationships. The connections I continue to have with former advisees and employees are a testament to those relationships,鈥� said Austin.
Austin earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree at Kansas State University before earning a master鈥檚 in higher and post-secondary education at Arizona State University. Austin received an Ed.D. from Texas Tech University in 2017.