After spending four years at his alma mater, former Student Center Programs Coordinator Brandon Carta left his post in the Office of Student Involvement on August 16.
In an interview with The Equinox, Carta said his decision revolved around three key factors: An increased salary, the ability to act as a supervisor in an office and a title change.
“I was still making under $50,000 here with a master’s degree, which is pretty criminal even for student affairs in higher [education] and I just couldn’t afford to live here anymore on the salary without any support,” Carta said.
According to Open Payrolls, Carta made $48,840 annually in his role at student involvement.
Carta said in the past couple of years he asked the college if there was a possibility for him to move onto campus to alleviate some financial strain, but was met with resistance.
Additionally, Carta cited the fact his salary was not matched with Emily Alexander’s, who came on in the spring as senior coordinator of student involvement and well-being, as a cause of some frustration.
“If there’s a fraternity and sorority lawsuit against the college, and there has been, I’m the one who goes and talks to the lawyers, it wouldn’t be [Alexander’s] position. So I think the lack of people valuing my role and what it really does in its capacity is definitely a reason that I felt like I needed to leave,” Carta said.
Director of Student Involvement Jessica Gagne Cloutier said the vacancy came at an unfortunate time for the office.
“It is a challenging time of year to be down a staff member, so our first hope is to post that position and get a search going and hopefully have that filled as soon as we possibly can with some input and voice from the students who will work with that individual,” Gagne Cloutier said.
Both Carta and Gagne Cloutier entered their positions in the office in August of 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which made involving students all the more difficult.
One of Carta’s accomplishments upon entering the role was the creation of OwlNet, a website that allows students to view event listings and all the student organizations on campus.
“We launched it [OwlNet] during COVID as a way to try to get more online engagement,” Carta told The Equinox in a Nov. 16 article. A relaunch of the site was in the works as of the article’s publication, but with Carta gone, it is unclear when or if it will happen in the near future.
Gagne Cloutier said she and Alexander will be sharing Carta’s duties for the time being, but noted she would like a hire to be made much sooner rather than later.
“I’m going to hope it doesn’t take a few months,” she said.
Vice President of Enrollment and Student Engagement MB Lufkin said filling the role will be critical for the college.
“Absolutely, the student involvement office is a critical part of our retention
strategy and a way that we make sure that students have a good experience on campus,” Lufkin said.
Lufkin said she anticipates the position will be posted as soon as the week of September 1.
“We’re a little bit off-cycle when folks typically hire for those positions, but we have a pretty strong network of alumni who may be interested in coming back to Keene, so we think we’ll have good candidates,” Lufkin said.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
