Eric Monday bleeds purple and gold. He sports a purple and gold tie. He drinks Tiger Water and serves it to guests of his office. He is no stranger here – the former SG president took his first job at the University two months after graduating with an accounting degree. This institutional knowledge led interim Chancellor William Jenkins and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Astrid Merget to charge Monday with restructuring the Office of Student Life and Academic Services, Monday said. “The division needed some work, and I told the chancellor and provost putting [Monday] in that job was a ‘smart move,'” said Arthur Goulas, assistant vice chancellor and director of the Student Health Center. Monday has been in office for only 20 working days and has already met with all departments in SLAS except the Office of Disability Services, a meeting he has scheduled for next week. Monday has also reorganized SLAS, eliminating the Student Auxiliary Services department and requiring the University Child Care Center, the Student Union, Residential Life and the University Recreation Center to report directly to him. Monday said he made these changes to combat a problem he has identified in SLAS: communication barriers. Monday said some departments were unaware of other departments and services they provided in SLAS. He said this organizational shift will help alleviate the problem. Current SG President Cassie Alsfeld also noted communication problems within the division. “There were some areas that needed to be streamlined,” Alsfeld said. “There’s so much under Student Life.” Monday said his goal is to make SLAS more freshman-friendly, to help increase retention rates. “We are going to look at the organization in terms of what can we do to make a better first-year experience,” Monday said. “We are doing great, but I want to do better.” Monday is also evaluating SLAS spending to determine how SLAS can better fund its programs. “We have limited resources, so we have to make sure we are using them as best as we can,” he said. This is not the first time Monday has been asked to re-engineer University entities. Monday has led University re-engineering efforts for the University Bookstore, University Dinning, concessions, multimedia rights, trademark licensing and student health insurance, according to his resume. He was also involved in re-engineering efforts during his time as a student at the University. Monday said a big issue when he joined SG was accountability. He said the 1993 SG election was canceled by then-Chancellor William Davis because students were stuffing ballot boxes. That year, Monday joined the SG election committee and helped revise the election code. When he ran for SG president, Monday ran on a platform of reform to change the perception of the organization. Monday said his experiences as SG president allowed him to build a network and heightened his love for the University. He said if he had not been a student leader, he would not be at the University today. He also said his experience as a student leader helps him better understand students. Monday said he created “Monday on Mondays” to connect with students and get a better sense of what they want. “Monday on Mondays” allows students the chance to talk with Monday and a guest over lunch at 459 Commons. “What’s great about that is it’s one-on-one. We can spend 15 minutes on one issue,” Monday said. Monday said he has begun individual talks with staff members to gain greater knowledge of existing problems. After the talks, Monday said it will be time to make decisions that fix the problems. Although he has assumed the duties of interim vice chancellor, Monday will not relinquish his duties as associate vice chancellor for Finance and Administration. Monday said he will not remain as vice chancellor of SLAS and said he plans to go back to his original duties. “My role here is to be interim and go back to Finance and Administration in due time,” Monday said. “Right now my charge has been to look at [SLAS] and set it in a new direction and a new focus.”
—-Contact Allen Womble at [email protected]