Keene State College President, Anne Huot, has appointed Vice President of Student Affairs, Andrew Robinson as the 2014 Commencement speaker.
The KSC president said she made this choice based on the significantly positive impact he has made on students and their personal development. Robinson is set to retire from his position at KSC this summer.
“I have greatly appreciated his work this past year, his commitment to our students, his dedication to Keene State College, his empathy for the faculty and staff, his wise counsel and importantly, his sense of humor,” Huot stated in an email to faculty, students and staff.
Anne Miller, the assistant vice president for academic affairs, said she feels like she has known Robinson forever. She said Robinson gave her first tour of the KSC campus approximately 21 years ago and said she has held their friendship very close to her heart ever since.
“Andy deeply cares about the well-being of the students and staff he works with and he has a very strong value for building connections with whoever he encounters,” Miller continued, “I’ve appreciated being able to join forces with Andy on work that we both find to be important and to support each other when we’re engaged in separate pursuits, and as I’m sure most everyone will mention, Andy is quick-witted and loves to find the humor in the moment and I’ll miss that very much,” Miller said. Miller said she feels as though Robinson’s greatest impact on the KSC campus is his ability to keep a calm and positive atmosphere even in times of crisis.
Brian Cantore / Photo Editor:
Vice President of Student Affairs Andy Robinson. Robinson will be the Class of 2014 commencement speaker at the graduation in May.
“One of Andy’s greatest contributions has been what he’s offered to students and their families in the face of emergencies and crises. His sensitivity has been a helpful balm to many people who were working through great personal challenges and I think he’s treated every single situation with personalized concern and a genuine offer of assistance. His steadiness of character and his unwavering sense of fairness have helped all of us to weather situations that could easily have spiraled out of control,” Miller said.
Barbara Preston, the senior administrative assistant, said she has been working with Robinson since 2008, and said a day hasn’t gone by that he hasn’t made her feel welcome in the office and happy in her position, no matter what the circumstances may have been.
“It has been so nice to work with someone so genuine and respectful. He has always been so genuinely concerned with everyone’s well-being. Andy would never forget to ask about my day, or how my weekend had been, or how I am feeling about my workload, and that really sets the tone for a great work environment,” Preston said.
Preston also spoke highly of Robinson’s calm and positive demeanor, and how effective that has been in his time at the college.
Preston explained, “By the time someone makes it to our office, they are usually upset and in crisis, whether it be a student, or family member, or even a member of the community that might have had their window broken over the weekend. It is inevitable that by the time they leave here after having spoke with Andy, that they felt like they had been listened to. They might not have even received any new information, but Andy’s personality traits are infectious and I have never seen someone walk out of this office as sputtering and angry as they had been when they walked in.”
Robinson spoke both highly and nostalgically of his time at KSC when he said he will miss the campus and everyone involved. He said he began his path to KSC at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, where he received his masters in Student Personnel Administration. He said he then joined the U.S Air Force for a few years until he returned to Allegheny and received his doctorate in counseling.
Next for Robinson came his time at Cape Cod Community College where he said he worked in several different positions including the Director of Student Life and the Director of Community Services. Robinson said in this time, he found an open position at KSC for the Associate Dean of Student Affairs and in 1991 he was hired.
He said he went from Associate Dean, to the Dean of Students, to the Interim Vice President, to the Vice President of Student Affairs in 2008.
Robinson said his favorite part of his work as all the time he has been able to spend first-hand with students — from working with student leaders to working with student problems. He said he is also very happy with all the connections he has made between the campus and the community.
“I think one thing that I have done in my time here that has greatly impacted KSC, is my decision to hire Allison Riley, someone to deal with community relations. This fundamentally changed the way we look at our responsibility in the neighborhood. Prior to this, we dealt with anything outside of our campus in a very hands-off way. We felt as though anything that happens off campus is out of our control and isn’t our business. Over the years I have realized how critical it is for us to keep up with our community relations,” said Robinson.
Robinson said he is extremely honored to have been offered the opportunity to speak.
Jenna Lambert can be contacted at jlambert@keene-equinox.com