If there’s a face of an administrator that Brandeisians see around and recognize at student events, chances are good that it’s Stephanie Grimes. Grimes is the assistant dean of students and the director of Student Activities, so she finds herself involved in student life on a daily basis. In charge of overseeing the Department of Orientation and the Department of Student Activities (DSA), Grimes also serves in her capacity of assistant dean as a liaison between the students and the university.

Grimes was born and raised in Augusta, ME, and attended Bryant College (now Bryant University), intending to major in accounting before graduating with a degree in business management. In her time at the college, she was heavily involved with campus programming, and held several leadership roles on the student programming board, which is similar to the Student Events organization here at Brandeis. Before long, she ended up serving as the New England regional student representative to the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA.)

Following her time at Bryant, she attended Northeastern University to obtain an M.S. in college student development and counseling, while at the same time working full-time as a student activities advisor and as a resident hall director at Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts.

After graduating from Northeastern, Grimes moved to North Carolina to serve as the assistant director of student involvement at Chowan College, before deciding to return north. She had received a call from a colleague from NACA who suggested she apply for a one-year position at Brandeis. Grimes went for it, and before long was offered the position. However, she waited until she could interview on site before accepting. Seventeen years later, Grimes is still at Brandeis, albeit in a different post than she was in originally.

Following her tenure at the year-long job, Grimes found that there was a vacancy in the equivalent position of area coordinator for Usen Castle residence hall. Simultaneously, she stepped into a newly created position of working in Student Activities and residence life, leading her to hold two different roles with two different supervisors. Finding her passion as always having been with Student Activities and program planning, Grimes ended up remaining as student activities director following structural changes made within the campus life division. In 2004, Grimes was named the director of student activities, and in February 2014 she stepped up to also serve as an assistant dean.

Grimes described her job in two parts, saying, “The Student Activities part of my job works with students outside of the classroom, whether it’s through clubs, programs or activities that they’d like to be involved in outside of the classroom. With the assistant dean role, it’s all of that and then some.” She went on to detail that the job of assistant dean involves challenge and crisis management, as well as working with students to advocate for their needs and working through difficult circumstances to see how the university could provide the necessary resources to assist.

Grimes also oversees Orientation development in a supervisory capacity. The Department of Orientation recently selected the Core Committee for next fall, so the work for next fall’s Orientation has just gotten underway. Currently, the Orientation department is also focused on midyear Orientation. “Just about two weeks ago we sent the midyears a pre-arrival guide … and they’re planning the final details of the Orientation program. We’re getting them all psyched up to be here and thinking about making sure they’re in tune with their academics and transitioning to campus,” Grimes said.

There are a lot of areas that are under Grimes’ purview that many students might not realize. For example, student businesses fall under the domain of Student Activities. The Student Service Bureau and Chum’s both come under this umbrella, and there is even a policy in the Rights and Responsibilities handbook that details policies on student commercial enterprises. Grimes meets with entrepreneurial students and approves or disapproves their businesses. There have been businesses dealing with smartphone repairs, t-shirts, mobile apps, websites and even students seeking to represent outside businesses on campus.

In overseeing Student Events, Grimes takes on different roles depending on the sponsor of the event itself. If it’s a program that the department itself is sponsoring, it will be entirely run by the DSA with Grimes and other staff members managing, marketing and staffing. If the programs are sponsored by an organization such as Student Events, she might be present with others from DSA to act as agents of the university to make sure university guidelines (such as venue capacity) are followed, as well as serve as support for club leaders. “On the Fall Fest comedian, for example, we’re acting in both capacities, advising a group of students who essentially take the Fall Fest from start to finish.”

In her role as an assistant dean in handling crisis management, Grimes’ role shifts greatly. If there is a student in some form of crisis, be it physical or mental health related, or a family challenge such as a death, her office is one that can work with students under such circumstances. “We’ll often interact with students and try to get them connected with managing the situation, having the conversations that need to be had, talking with people about how they can be supported.”

There are emergency situations that can arise that could have varying consequences. “Sometimes it’s a situation on campus and we’ll need to put some kind of emergency action into place,” said Grimes. As an example, she recalled a time when there was a boil-water order issued for all water on campus the same day as Springfest, which added a major stress on a day in which there were already campus guests and 2000 students all gathered in one location.

Considering the best part of her job, Grimes thinks about the fact that no single day is the same. “You think you’re going to come in and get a day as my Google calendar prescribes, but depending on an interaction with a student, or learning about information or having to react to campus life, a day can change like that.”

Grimes continued, “Sometimes [my day] changes for the good, and sometimes for the worse, but having to think on my feet and change my demeanor and style to connect with the people sitting in front of me, is really what drives me every day.”