This academic year will be Jackson’s last as leader of the university’s student life division.
To: Members of the Elon community
The 2016-17 academic year will be Dr. G. Smith Jackson’s last year of service as Elon’s vice president for student life and dean of students. Dr. Jackson has made the decision to step down from his position next spring, completing 24 years of exemplary leadership of Elon’s renowned student life programs.
In making the announcement in his opening address on Aug. 22, President Leo M. Lambert described Smith as “one of the most talented, committed, visionary, fair, humane and smart educators in the nation.” He has been one of the architects of the modern Elon, building a student life program that is a national model, fully integrated with the intellectual life of the campus.
Smith joined Elon in 1994 as dean of students and was promoted to vice president in 1998. He is a member of President Lambert’s senior staff and is responsible for all aspects of student life, including 15 departments that provide student services and co-curricular programs for student learning and development. Among those areas are residence life, student leadership development, student organizations, health and counseling services, campus recreation, service learning and religious and spiritual life.
As President Lambert noted, Smith has always been guided by acting in the best interest of students. We owe him a great debt of gratitude for his service, and we look forward to the ways he will continue to benefit Elon during the upcoming school year and in his future work on behalf of the university.
I am in the process of forming a search committee to find a successor to Dr. Jackson and will announce details of the committee membership in the weeks ahead.
Please join me in thanking Smith for his years of service to Elon and for his work in providing a smooth leadership transition over the next year.
Steven D. House
Provost and Executive Vice President