Running with the Gators

April 6, 2010

Note: This feature story appeared in InsideUF’s biweekly print edition on April 6, 2010. The print edition is a paid insert that appears as the entire page-three of the Independent Florida Alligator.

Do you know who the dean of students is? If you’re a student living on campus, she could be your neighbor.

Jen Day Shaw, the new University of Florida dean of students, is so dedicated to her job that she rarely leaves work. She exercises, dines and relaxes in an atmosphere surrounded with students.

To get familiar with things fast, she decided to live on campus. According to Shaw, this allows her to participate in more student events.

“It (living on campus) puts you right in the heart of things and makes it so much easier,” Shaw said.

Although she has worked as the dean of students at other universities, including University of North Carolina at Greensboro and University of South Florida, this is her first time working with such a large student body, she said.

The convenience and accessibility of living on campus helps when managing a university crisis until 2 a.m., she said. “It’s something different every day,” she said, which is one of the reasons she enjoys her job.

Even after working into the early-morning hours, she still manages to have energy to run with ROTC students before dawn. Coming from a military family, Shaw has a great respect for the group and uses the morning activity as another opportunity to familiarize herself with students.

Impressed by the high involvement of UF students, Shaw finds attending student-group meetings to be “uplifting,” she said.

For this reason, she often eats lunch with students at daily events offering food. But, as if dining, socializing and living in a student atmosphere weren’t enough, Shaw also will be teaching two student courses: First-Year Florida and a graduate course.

Shaw loves to teach, but her true calling lies in another aspect of her job.

“It is most fulfilling to help students in distress,” she said. “I love that the best.”