After a year-and-a-half long search, Fran Koerting has been hired as Director of Residential Life (ResLife). She is assuming the position held by Interim Director Maureen Isleib, who replaced Jeff Ederer at the end of 2004.
“I have always admired Wesleyan as an institution and was very excited about the differences in the student population,” Koerting said. “Once I visited the campus and met the people who worked here, I was so impressed by the collaboration and friendliness, and the emphasis that the university placed on student input and interaction.”
In regard to changes made over the summer within the ResLife, Koerting said that she could not take credit for them, as many were already in motion when she arrived. The changes include ResLife taking over the responsibility of key distribution to the student body, as well as furnishing many of the wood-frame houses on campus.
The director of ResLife is a job that encompasses a wide range of skills and abilities. Among other things, the position requires its candidate to develop and implement initiatives that promote community interaction, enhance co-curricular learning, and improve the delivery of services to students.
It is also expected that the director work closely with the Student Life Facilities staff to maintain a high-quality residential environment, as well as to manage the department’s operating and programming budgets.
“Fran stood out as being a strong communicator with solid experience in the management of residential life,” said Dean of the College Maria Cruz-Saco. “We had a national search with several finalists, and Fran was impressive.”
Mike Whaley, Dean of Student Services, affirmed Cruz-Saco’s positive impression of Koerting.
“I hired her because I think she is a talented professional who enjoys interacting with students and working with them to improve the overall residential experience,” he said.
“Given that Wesleyan is a residential campus, our huge array of housing options, and the high expectations for creating vibrant communities, I think that this is an extremely challenging position.”
Koerting spent eight years at Fairfield University as the director of ResLife. There, she coordinated a number of programs similar to those that Wesleyan organizes, particularly those pertaining to career services, orientation, and first-year activities.
After fifteen years at Fairfield, Koerting decided she was ready for a change. Seeing a job opening at Wesleyan for a candidate with professional residential experience and a background in working with diverse students, she eagerly applied.
“The job at Wesleyan appealed to me for a number of reasons,” Koerting said. “It offered the opportunity to continue doing the things I loved about Residential Life, but to also do some new things I had not had the opportunity to do before, like work with graduate student housing and program housing.”
Koerting was also drawn to the diversity within Wesleyan, not only in regard to its student body, but also in its architectural plans and construction ideas.
“Even within the same residence hall, there are numerous types and sizes of rooms, let alone when you add in how unique each of the program houses and wood-frame houses are,” Koerting said. “The importance of this diversity was underscored when I saw that even the new construction, like the Fauver apartments and senior prototypes, incorporated a variety of color schemes and floor plans, because the students like the variety.”
Her impression of the people on campus matched her enthusiasm for the architecture.
“[Compared to Fairfield,] the student population is much more diverse, and the climate is much more liberal,” she said. “The students at Wesleyan seem to be more engaged in activism and of a higher caliber intellectually. They are not only active, but are encouraged to make an impact in any way possible.”
In the time she has spent at Wesleyan so far, Koerting has developed an overwhelmingly positive outlook.
“Everyone I have met since I began [my job] has been equally friendly, welcoming, and collaborative,” she said.
The university’s administrators continue to match Koerting’s enthusiasm.
“I am absolutely thrilled that Fran has joined the Student Services team,” Whaley said. “I think that she brings significant experience and fresh perspectives to a very capable and committed staff.”
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