Second candidate for vice provost for student success on campus this week

LAWRENCE -- The second finalist for the position of vice provost of the Office for Student Success at the University of Kansas will be on campus Thursday and Friday to interview and participate in two open forums.

Don Aripoli, vice president for student affairs at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo., will be featured in an open student forum from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in the Pine Room of the Kansas Union. An open faculty and staff forum will be from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. Friday, March 28, in the union's Alderson Auditorium.

Aripoli is one of five candidates under consideration for vice provost for student success, a position that formerly was titled vice provost for student support. The new title becomes effective in July.

Prior to his appointment at Southwest Missouri State in 1993, Aripoli served as assistant vice president for student services and later as the associate vice president for student affairs at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He also served as the director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

He received his doctoral degree in 1977 from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He earned his master's degree from Indiana University in Bloomington and his undergraduate degree from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Aripoli is an executive committee member of the Catholic Campus Ministry and was the chairperson of the NCAA Degree Completion Scholarship Program from 1988 to 1998.

The Office for Student Success will include both academic and student services as recommended by a reorganization task force and approved by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor David Shulenburger last August. The title reflects the office's commitment to providing services that promote student retention, academic success and graduation.

The Office for Student Success includes the KU Memorial Unions, Student Health Services, Student Housing, Student Financial Aid and the Department of Student Life. The student life department includes Recreation Services, Legal Services for Students, Hilltop Child Development program, Services for Students with Disabilities, University Career and Employment Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, Multicultural Affairs, the Student Development Center, Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, Student Organizations and Leadership Development Center, and the University Information Center. Academic Services includes Admissions and Scholarships, New Student Orientation, the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center, the University Registrar, the Writing Center and Academic Technology Services.