The Dean Behind the Scene

By: Kevin DeVormer and Kent Brindley

Introduction

Doctor F. Ben Thelen, current Dean of Students and Vice Provost at a west Michigan college, is in charge of a multitude of offices and departments at the university including the Counseling & Career Development Center, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Health Center, the Women’s Center, Student Life and many more. Although his job does not center on it, it does require a great amount of writing to communicate with the various divisions of Student Services on campus and other necessary audiences.

Dean's Duties

Despite the fact that Dean Thelen’s position does not require him to publish written material, it does in fact involve employing the written word. Although the time spent actually putting a pen to paper or accessing a word processor is varied, he does spend quite a bit of time writing emails to his staff and others, preparing letters of recommendation as well as letters to the judiciary committee, filling out forms, putting outlines for meetings and ideas for written projects on paper, and writing various speeches he gives.

Starting his long career in student services as an Assistant Dean of Students at Kalamazoo College, then rising up to Associate Dean of Students before moving to serve in the same capacity at Tulane University in New Orleans, then later becoming the Acting Dean of Students and finally moving to a west Michigan college in 1984, Dean Thelen has spent over twenty one years providing students with an environment conducive to success. His job, though allowing him to work with fascinating faculty and a fantastic staff and giving him the opportunity to learn new things and help students learn and succeed, does have drawbacks as he’s forced to dismiss favorable ideas that are brought to him because of a lack of resources to implement them, and he finds there is not enough time to do all he wants to do.

Time is the biggest challenge to Dr. Thelen, at least related to writing, as finding the time to write during his busy schedule sometimes has him in the office up to two hours past closing or early to get the quiet environment in which to concentrate. His primary concern is to articulate him well when communicating to his audience, ranging from students and faculty to the provost and various committees, and ensure what he communicates is meaningful to them. Estimating that he spends about 20% of his time writing emails to faculty, staff and the student body as well as notes for meetings and speeches, but it became apparent that this was falling a bit short of the mark. Despite this lack of time, Dean Thelen makes a point of leaving work in the office, believing that a separation should exist between the home life, which holds great value to him, which is made evident by the multitude of family photos around his office.

Life Lessons

Dean Thelen started his college education at Aquinas College where he earned a B.A. in political science then later moved on to earn a M.A. and an Ed.D. in Counseling and Personal Administration in Higher Education at Eastern Michigan University. While in college he was a member of a fraternity where he learned a great deal about himself and those around him, making many friends there and on the football team he was also a part of. His athletic experience also taught him two valuable lessons, one of which most athletes gain and one which takes a unique quality to pick up. Discovering the value of teamwork on a sports team is quite common, usually stated as the most redeeming quality of contact team sports, however, as an offensive lineman on his college team, Dean Thelen gleaned a special understanding of modesty. Realizing that although he isn’t standing in the limelight those that are in it wouldn’t be without his support and finding that he could find contentment in the supporting role.

College wasn’t the only major contributor to Ben Thelen’s life; he credits two courses with providing him with special advantages in his present day position, a typing course and Mr. Athlyn’s English class. The typing course, as expected, prepared him for the advent of the computer, allowing him to quickly pick up working with a word processor. Athlyn’s English class had a different effect, attended during his senior year of high school; this is where Dean Thelen took a major step in appreciation for literature and ability to articulate himself with the written word.

Dean's Advice

It seems that even though one’s work doesn’t put a person into a position to write as a main focus, it doesn’t degrade the respect he or she has for the art of the pen and the ability to “know what you want to say” as Dean Thelen says, and put it down on paper. In fact, Dean Thelen believes that writing skills are absolutely “critical to the types of jobs that college graduates are looking for” and advises students to use the resources on campus that are available, stating that writing is challenging and hard for many to do well, but has the potential to be very fun when one sees the improvements he or she makes as they continue to write. The most important advice the Dean can give to any writer from his own experience is that the more you write, the better you will write, and as in all things, practice brings perfection. The value Dean Thelen has for students, and concern he holds for their success is obvious, leaving one to know that the mission of the Student Services Office is his personal mission as well.