April Burt may have just moved to Silver City, but the new Assistant Vice President of Student Life has already hit the ground running.
Originally from Houston, TX, Burt comes to WNMU from the Art Institute of Dallas, where she was Dean of Student Success. Student Affairs—the office that oversees Student Life, the Campus Recreation Center, new student orientation, and events such as the Great Race—is a good fit for Burt, whose undergraduate degree is in psychology and whose interdisciplinary graduate degree included both counseling and education. She has spent many years in higher education working to improve the student experience and looks forward to continuing that work at WNMU.
In her first weeks on the job in Silver City, she has already had conversations with faculty and staff about how Student Life can team with the different departments across campus to create a better student experience, and she is eager to hear from students about the kind of programming they want her office to bring forward.
Burt wants to increase the visibility of Student Life, to create an “engaging, strong student experience,” she said. Eager to have “more collaboration with other department areas,” Burt said that already she has noticed how the faculty and staff “seem very interested in partnering with student affairs.”
This kind of collaboration will be especially important when planning and delivering new student orientation, according to Burt. She especially looks forward to ensuring that orientation is not only fun but educational and hopes that her department can partner with academics to make that happen. Her team in Student Affairs is already gearing up for this summer’s orientation programming. “We have really excellent student workers and student orientation leaders,” she noted.
When she is not in her office on the 3rd floor of the Student Memorial Building, Burt can often be found having lunch in the Dining Hall. Off campus, she looks forward to further exploring southwestern New Mexico with her husband, Lance. When she is not working, Burt said, she enjoys spending time in nature. “I also really love wildlife photography, and this is the perfect place for that,” she said.
Caption: Texas native April Burt (pictured) is the new Assistant Vice President of Student Life at WNMU. She aims to enhance the student experience by collaborating with other departments on campus.