Satterlund picked to lead OPAL

By Marina Shkuratov

Published on Wednesday, February 1, 2012

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Alysson Satterlund, the current director for student organizations and interim director of the Women’s Resource Center and PRIDE Center at California State University, Sacramento, will assume the position of director of the College’s Office of Pluralism and Leadership on Feb. 15, according to Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson.

The selection process for the new OPAL director involved a national search conducted by a committee composed of students, faculty and staff, Johnson said. The committee narrowed the choice down to three “top-notch” finalists, but Satterlund was the “clear consensus candidate,” Johnson said. Satterlund’s experience working with minority groups including LGBT students and students of color influenced her selection, according to Johnson.

Satterlund worked in higher education for 17 years prior to her selection, teaching for four years at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and three years at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. She also worked at California State University and as dean and special assistant to the chancellor at the City College of San Francisco in California, which Satterlund described as “a big experience in collaborating,” according to an email from Johnson to Dartmouth staff. In this position, Satterlund oversaw 95,000 students and coordinated bi-annual meetings of the San Francisco Higher Education Consortium.

Satterlund’s expertise and leadership will move OPAL in a positive direction, helping it to evolve as an organization, Johnson said.

“In addition to her expertise in organizational management and communication, I think she’ll bring a leadership style that encourages a collaborative work environment,” Johnson said.

Steve Silver, OPAL’s International Student Programs director, is “very enthusiastic and excited” to have Satterlund take part in OPAL, he said.

Satterlund will help OPAL focus on its two complementary goals — creating an inclusive community for students and “building bridges between students across the spectrum,” according to Johnson.

“[OPAL] is one of the places where different students can connect to the campus and connect to the institution and engage,” Johnson said. “In order to be the well-rounded students we want them to be, they need to be able to communicate across difference.”

As OPAL director, Satterlund said she plans to emphasize the organization’s role in building communities and bridging the gaps between groups at Dartmouth.

“One of the things I loved when I was visiting campus and doing research was this idea that OPAL, along with other partners, was really there to build a community,” Satterlund said. “I’m just so thrilled to be a part of what comes next and to help shape that in collaboration with others.”

In her new position, Satterlund will aim to bring together different groups on campus to help the organization’s mission of community building.

“I would want [OPAL] to be something that students and community members could look to and be proud to be associated with and support,” Satterlund said. “My vision is a community working together for the benefit of themselves and others.”

Christian Brandt ’12, who interviewed Satterlund for the position, said he believes Satterlund to be a “good candidate” for the position. He added, however, that he thinks the College’s choice to abolish the position of OPAL director was a “huge mistake,” and a new director for OPAL was long overdue. The official OPAL director position was effectively removed in August 2009 when former director Sylvia Spears became acting dean of the College. Following this transition, Samantha Ivery, the College’s advisor to black students, assumed the duties of OPAL director in addition to her previous responsibilities. When Ivery left the College in June 2011, Pam Misener assumed the role of interim director of OPAL.

“They should have never gotten rid of the position,” Brandt said. “It’s about time they hired a new director.”

The director position was likely cut as a result of surveys sent out to campus in which OPAL ranked “extremely low,” Brandt said. He added, however, that the low rankings may have been the result of OPAL’s lack of resources, and cutting the director position only worsened the problem and presented a “double-edged sword.”

Brandt said that Misener did not apply for the position of permanent OPAL director.

“I’m almost positive she didn’t want to run,” Brandt said. “She wasn’t one of the three finalists, and I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to be the director.”

Brandt is “optimistic” about OPAL’s potential for the future, particularly if the organization can better integrate itself into the Dartmouth community.

“I’d like there to be a really concerted effort for OPAL to move in a direction that makes it much more accessible to the general student body,” Brandt said.

Satterlund’s perspective will be helpful because the environments she has previously worked in differ from that of the College, according to Brandt.

“In some ways I’m glad that this director is coming from outside the Ivy League,” Brandt said. “A director coming from the Ivy League wouldn’t really have brought that many new ideas.”

Satterlund received both her bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from California State University, Chico, and received a PhD from UNC, Chapel Hill in interpersonal and organizational communication, according to the email. She also holds a certificate from Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management, according to the email.