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BY ARIEL MARTINO

In print | April 10, 2008

Liz Derickson ’01 has announced that this will be her last semester as housing coordinator at Swarthmore College. Derickson has plans to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology at Princeton University.

Derickson has been housing director for the past three years, returning to her alma mater after time in the Peace Corps and working as a public housing intern.

Derickson’s departure has been met with disappointment and questions. Many wonder why she needs a Ph.D. when she has served as a competent housing director and, in the words of Cara Arcuni ‘09, "has performed certain vital ’dean’ functions" for the past thee years.

Dean of Residential Life Myrt Westphal was the one to encourage Derickson to seek education beyond her bachelor’s degree. “If you’re going to work in higher ed, you need at least a master’s degree,” Westphal said.

Westphal went on to say that having higher degrees gives you credibility among faculty members. She said that, although not required for a dean’s work, having a Ph.D. commands more respect because “you go through the same academic process that [other faculty members] go through.”

Citing Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, Westphal said that Derickson was blessed with tremendous intra-personal intelligence, a skill that made Derickson a natural as housing coordinator. To illustrate her point, Westphal shared an anecdote about Derickson’s time as an RA on a hall full of seniors, where she encouraged everyone to attend weekly study breaks.

However, Westphal also stressed Derickson’s background in academia and called her a “smart cookie.” Derickson hopes her degree in sociology will allow her to become a professor and possibly a dean in the future.

Derickson hopes to stay in higher education, whether or not she ends up at Swarthmore again. She likes the fact that working in higher education gives her a chance to “get to know a wide variety of students, faculty, and staff.”

She cites her relationships with students and colleagues as what she most enjoyed about her job.

As an RA and member of the housing committee, Arcuni remembers Derickson as an enormous resource to the college. She said, “Liz brought friendliness, efficiency and understanding of students and their issues to her job.”

Westphal added that Derickson had an uncanny knowledge of Swarthmore and an unmatched ability to understand the student body. She joked that “I would make her a dean right now, except the outside world says you need a degree first.”

Upon the announcement of Derickson’s departure, many students expressed concerns that her replacement would not be able to fill Derickson’s large shoes.

Arcuni believes that housing will be very different after Derickson leaves, worrying that if a replacement is not found, “it will be a little difficult for Myrt to manage both her current dean duties and housing, although her past experience with housing will make it much easier.”

Westphal, however, is optimistic. After only a few days, the opening for the new Assistant Dean of Residential Life has already had forty applicants. Her only concern is timing because it is unclear whether the new person will be able to start in time for next fall.

Derickson said in an e-mail that she hopes that her replacement will possess the same “ability to work independently and balance a variety of responsibilities, attention to detail, sense of humor [and] ability to work with many constituencies” that she has displayed throughout her time at Swarthmore.

Arcuni added that Derickson has played an absolutely vital role in making residential life at Swarthmore enjoyable.

She said that Derickson “deals with issues that usually wouldn’t rise either to the level of Myrt’s involvement or the involvement of individual psychological counselors: how to write a roommate agreement, how to deal with a troublesome roommate and a lot else.”

Westphal admits that she is sorry to see Derickson go, as she has acted as Derickson’s advisor, supervisor and mentor since her freshman year.

However, she said that, in order to fill the job opening, “we will find someone good.”

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