The search committee for the associate vice president of student life/dean of student life discovered, after a national search, what Dorothy learned after her trip to Oz: Sometimes what you’re looking for is right in your own backyard (or on your own campus).

Emilia Paul brings nearly 30 years of higher-education experience to her new role as Associate Vice President of Student Life.

Emilia Paul, who had served in the position in an interim capacity since March 2007, was named to the position effective July 1.

“We conducted a national search to fill this very important position in student services,” said Vice President of Student Services Kathy MacKay, “and we were fortunate to find that we had the best candidate right here on campus.”

Paul came to Metro State in 2004 as assistant dean of student life and student judicial officer. Prior to that, she was dean of student services at Front Range Community College and had been in charge of educational planning and advising, as well as the Center for Persons with Disabilities, at Community College of Denver.

“One of the impressive qualities Emilia brings to the position is the breadth of her experience,” MacKay added. “She has been a full-time professional in higher education, at various institutions and in a variety of capacities, for 28 years. Her experience includes working at community colleges, teaching at the college level, and working with diversity and retention issues, both of which she’s passionate about.”

After graduating from high school and college in Illinois, Paul worked in K-12 education for some years before getting into higher education in 1980. She worked at Northern Illinois University and a number of community colleges, and then moved to Arizona, where she taught and tutored English at Northern Arizona University while earning her master’s degree in English.

Originally from Mexico City, Paul moved to Illinois when she was eight years old, and had to learn English from the ground up. While her parents both had college degrees from Mexico—her father was a doctor and her mother a nurse—“they didn’t know the American education system,” she recalled. When Paul enrolled at college, she said, “I had to navigate this huge system on my own.” This experience shaped her interest in, and empathy for, first-generation, non-traditional college students.

The associate vice president has general oversight over the programs in the area: Campus Recreation, Career Services, ACCESS Center for Disability Accommodations and Adaptive Technology, GLBT Student Services, Student Media, Student Activities, Student Health Center, Counseling Center, and Judicial Affairs and Conflict Resolution Services. “It’s fun,” she said, “because there’s quite a bit of variety.”

And the experience she brings to the position is, in many cases, directly applicable to the areas she is now overseeing. “I’ve done everything from admissions, to running a career center and a disabilities center,” she said. “The areas of student health and media are new to me,” she added, “but in many ways similar to what I’ve done before.”

While she’s excited about the content of her work, Paul says, “There are great people to work with at Metro State, and that’s what makes it really worthwhile.”