Offices formerly under Campus Life’s Community Portfolio, a collection of student-focused offices, will now report to Assistant Vice Presidents of Campus Life Suzanne Onorato and Dona Yarbrough.
The Community Portfolio was created in 2014 by former Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Ajay Nair to increase communication between offices that serve students.
Oversight of the offices under the Community Portfolio was split between Onorato and Yarbrough in November 2018 after University President Claire E. Sterk and Provost Dwight A. McBride determined that one person could not oversee all 13 offices. Onorato was originally hired in 2015 to manage all departments as the assistant vice president for community.
Onorato said she eventually realized that the entire Community Portfolio couldn’t be effectively managed by just one person.
“It was a lot for one person, and truthfully it wasn’t sustainable,” Onorato said.
Campus Life made the first change in June 2018, removing the Career Center from the Community Portfolio and having them report directly to the dean of Campus Life.
In November 2018, Campus Life dissolved the rest of the Community Portfolio and split management of the other offices between Onorato and Yarbrough based on their respective backgrounds.
“My background is in diversity and inclusion work, so I used to work in the provost’s office in those areas,” Yarbrough said.
Onorato said the change was also made so that Campus Life will be more in line with the One Emory strategic framework to boost collaboration between departments and offices.
She added that the split was made with the hope of increasing efficiency and productivity within Campus Life.
“It really was about recalibrating; having 14 departments was untenable [and] unsustainable,” Onorato said. “We weren't able to accomplish all of [the] things we wanted to accomplish because there just wasn't enough time, energy and people. So this just gives us both a chance to focus on things we have a lot of expertise in.”
Onorato now manages the offices of Civic and Community Engagement; Health Promotion; Recreation and Wellness; Student Success Programs and Services; Student Conduct; Student Involvement, Leadership and Transitions; and International Student Life.
Yarbrough now oversees the Center for Women, Office of LGBT Life, Racial and Cultural Engagement, the Barkley Forum, and Social Justice Education.
Yarbrough also now oversees faculty engagement and graduate student outreach. She continues to serve as the student ombudsperson.
The decision to dissolve the Community Portfolio and split its management between Onorato and Yarbrough was ultimately made by Interim Vice President for Campus Life Paul Marthers and McBride, according to Onorato.
Correction (4/29/19 at 4:06 p.m.): A previous version of this article stated that the Office of the Student Ombudsperson is not under the Division of Campus Life.
