EMMA ASHER

Kiem comes to Columbia from Clark University, where she was associate provost for student success and dean of students; before that, she worked for more than a decade at Fairfield University. She also has held residence life and student development roles at Smith College, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Michigan State University. Kiem began her deanship at Columbia on July 28.

Welcome! It must have been a busy start for you — the New Student Orientation Program, Convocation and everything that comes with the beginning of a new school year. How has it been going?

It’s been amazing. As we sit here, I’m into my seventh week, and I feel very much like I’m meant to be here. Every day I’m using everything that I’ve learned — throughout my entire life — in my work. Plus, I genuinely feel at home. I appreciate all the people whom I’ve had the opportunity to connect with and their thoughtfulness around who I am. And that includes the students. They have shown genuine interest, and want to make sure that I am learning about the student experience.

You’ve said that co-curricular experiences were essential to your own growth and development. Tell us about that.

I’m originally from Jamaica, and in Jamaica we graduate from high school very young — 15, 16 years old. I landed a tennis scholarship at a U.S. college. I’m a first-gen as well, and I was just happy to get a scholarship anywhere. I ended up at a junior college in Cochran, Ga., and a big part of my first-year experience was really that of an international student — navigating the cultural barriers that you can expect relating to that.

But I had told myself, I want to get involved in everything in college. There hadn’t been a lot of co-curricular opportunities in our K–12 system in Jamaica. And so I became an RA. I ran for president of our hall. And then because I was a president, I became a senator in the student government association. I was in the international club, I was playing tennis. I just immersed myself in that whole life experience outside the classroom. I wound up transferring to Florida International University, but all of that was the beginning of why I ended up in the role that I’m in.

What brought you to Columbia?

I’m a person who tends to lean into conflict and tension. For example, I was earning my master’s at Michigan State University when the affirmative action cases of the early 2000s were making their way through the courts. The students had a lot of mixed feelings, and I joined a dialogue program to help with sharing perspectives and talking through differences. For me, leaning into conflict and leaning into tension — and Columbia has its fair share — that’s how you can get to transformation. If you live through it, if you work with it, there’s tremendous growth and learning that can happen.

Being at Columbia, I’m working with the greatest minds in our global community, who when they graduate are going to have a profound impact on the world. And if I can have some impact on how they lead, in a way that still builds community and builds relationships in the most divisive of times, then I think that is extremely worthwhile.

How would you describe your role?

At the heart of what the dean of USL does is create a vibrant, inclusive, fun, healthy community where all students can thrive. For me, it’s having sight lines on the entire student experience. What I mean by that is being able to see the student journey — their growth, development, transformation and success — from the moment they’re admitted to Columbia until the day they graduate. I want to make sure that the whole experience is inclusive and vibrant, that students are thriving, healthy, experiencing joy, growing, transforming.

There are specific areas that I oversee and manage, and then there are areas I will do my best to influence. The areas I oversee are Multicultural Affairs, Residential Life and Student Engagement — that’s the roughly 340 clubs and organizations that we have. We have an amazing team. They are student affairs experts, professionals who guide students in developing as leaders, building community, navigating challenges and thriving outside the classroom. Oftentimes they are the ones in the spaces where students are making sense of their college experience; the spaces where students are thinking about what they’re learning in the classroom and how they are employing those lessons in their time outside the classroom — in clubs and organizations, in selected and elected leadership experiences, in their residential living environment and in intentional intercultural spaces. We play an extremely powerful role in student development and the formation of their undergraduate student experience. It’s not something we take for granted.

What are your priorities this year?

There are four areas that I’m focused on. The first is community and culture — once Jonathon Kahn GSAS’03 [senior associate dean of community and culture] was appointed, my priority was making sure that he and I got in lockstep with each other. We need to work on ensuring that our undergraduates are navigating divisive moments in a way that keeps the community intact — in a way that can continue to build relationships and that keeps students informed of the dynamics around whatever issues are polarizing them.

Another priority relates to how our students are taking in media and social media. Do they know how to critically analyze the information they receive? Even to be critical of the books they read — knowledge production is biased in many ways. We need to consider the skills we’re giving students to discern fact from opinion.

Then there’s well-being: For students, a big part of that is a sense of belonging: “Do I feel connected here at Columbia? Have I found my community? Do I have friends here? Do I have mentors?” That sense of belonging is at the core of what we do in USL. And well-being in other areas, too. Are they exploring their spirituality? Do they feel they have a pathway for what their next steps are after college? I always want to think about the environment that students are in, and how we are proactively and reactively supporting them.

Finally, how are we cultivating students to be leaders? I talk a lot about how the integration of curricular and co-curricular experiences can be truly transformative. The USL team is beginning to look at several questions: How are we creating habits of mind and cultivating good habits and competencies when it comes to leadership and what leadership is? How are we defining leadership? How are we helping to cultivate courageous leaders?

I also want to say, our students are focused, dedicated and serious about their work, but part of a balanced college experience is having fun. We have annual traditions like the Tree Lighting and Bacchanal, which can bring everyone together, but also day-to-day in their individual lives and routines, we want students to be finding ways to just enjoy.

What are you most excited about for the year ahead?

I am honestly so excited to be in community with our students. My perfect day is getting an almond milk latte from Joe’s — it’s the best I’ve ever had — and hanging out with students at the Sundial. I love that. Just being able to ask them questions and talk about what brought them to Columbia — what they’re majoring in or hope to major in; what clubs they’re in; what impact they hope to have while they’re here and after they leave; what their passions are.

In that opportunity, we’re building a relationship. Not only that, I am witnessing them making sense of their whole Columbia experience. I’m seeing them connect dots and, even in that moment, learning and growing. And all of that, their entire story, informs my work. That’s what I really enjoy and will continue to look forward to.