Student Life hired David Schieler as the new associate director of student life and leadership. Schieler will be responsible for overseeing clubs and organizations, coordinating with student leaders and organizing Disorientation Week.
Schieler is working with SGA advisors and BAC to track student engagement and strategize engagement techniques using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).
NSSE data includes five metrics: perception of social involvement, weekly time spent with co-curricular activities, faculty engagement outside of the classroom, campus event attendance and students in campus leadership roles.
All student engagement metrics fell after COVID, but are slowly rising, according to Schieler, who has been focusing on faculty engagement outside of the classroom.
“One way that we’re looking to raise faculty engagement outside of classrooms is increasing the support for clubs and organizations by faculty members,” Schieler said.
Before coming to UCCS, Schieler worked as a Student Program Coordinator for Service Leadership Programs at Florida State University and as Director of Student Engagement at Johnson & Wales University.
Schieler will be involved with UCCSlead in the spring and will support the organization of the Days of Service and Game Changer programs.
Students can participate in Days of Service to complete projects with nonprofit organizations in the Colorado Springs community. These projects fulfill GPS service-learning requirements as well as service requirements for certain programs, scholarships and student organizations.
Gamer Changer is a half-day program where students learn fundamental leadership skills and have the opportunity to receive a leadership certificate and graduation cord.
“I want students to know that I am their resource and their champion. If students want something to happen, there’s almost always a way to make it happen,” Schieler said.
David Schieler. Photo from David Schieler’s website.