By Joseph Zuniga
This fall, Dominican has introduced Sarah Johnson as the new acting Dean of Students, a decision that came after she was the interim Dean of Students for the last semester.
Johnson is excited to take up the role of Dean of Students after having participated in multiple roles throughout the school.
Johnson held previous roles: Director of Trio, Executive Director of Student Care Retention, and interim Dean of Students
Vice President of SSE Gabe Lara gives acknowledgements to Johnson for her background and skill set at Dominican, and how she proved herself for the position.
“I think her background in social work, her background in student affairs, proved to me that she has the skill set to be able to lead that effort,” he said. “And she did an amazing job when she was (Executive Director of Student Care Retention). So, when the Dean of Students position opened up… I wanted to give her a shot.”
Johnson was then made the Interim Dean of Students. When Lara was able to hire a full-time position for Dean of Students, he took a look at Johnson’s past six months as interim. “Sarah was no doubt the best person for the job,” he said.
Johnson has stated that as Dean of Students, she wants students to come talk to her if they have any problems to address.
“I want students to know that they could come to me, even if they couldn’t name exactly what they needed or what the problem is,” she said. “But if something feels off, if there was something they wish could be better, they could just come and talk to me, and we can figure out what we could do together.
Johnson believes that students’ needs and well-being come first and wants to be a key support system for students.
“What I found is often times students like to have someone who’s going to be a good listener, who’s going to ask helpful questions, (and) be a brainstorming partner.”
SGA President Tatiana Vasquez has seen Johnson’s student-oriented mindset firsthand.
“You can definitely see that she has students in mind and their needs, that’s her first priority.”
Vasquez feels welcomed whenever she has encounters with Johnson and encourages students to reach out to her if they need any assistance.
Johnson’s office is in the SSE office located at Crown 100E
