Dean Gail shares work experiences, advice

Dean of Students Gail DiSabatino loves the student population at Tech. Known on campus as Dean Gail, she serves as one of the primary advocates for students and student life.

"I love working at Tech. The students here and the interactions that I have with them on a day-to-day basis are my favorite parts of working here," she said.

According to Dean Gail, her most important role is to "be the friend of the student." Her duties consist of disciplining and advising.

The Office of the Dean of Students works with students to develop new ideas in addition to helping students that find themselves in difficult situations.

Dean Gail also plays a major role in student government. At meetings, she handles questions dealing with procedural and legal issues. She also assists many SGA members in their initiatives.

"I provide them with faculty connections and help them to set up plans of action for things like the Six Flags trip last year," she said.

Within the Office of the Dean of Students, there are several units that deal with specific issues relating to student life. These include ADAPTS (Access Disabled Assitance Program for Tech Students), GT SMART (Students Managing Alcohol Risk at Tech), Leadershape, Diversity Issues, Student Publications and Media, Student Involvement, the Women's Resource Center and the offices of Community Service, Greek Affairs and Student Integrity.

"Our office covers a broad spectrum of issues that students may have. It is our duty to coach them on how to deal with a conflict," Dean Gail said.

She added that the office also talks to faculty about students, and to students about faculty, although direct interactions between student and faculty are encouraged.

As she sees students on a day-to-day basis, Dean Gail has dealt with many of the typical problems that students have, especially freshmen. The hardest part, she said, is getting students to understand that college is an entirely different ballgame than high school.

"The greatest challenge in my work is that many students that come to Tech are very achievement-oriented," she said. "They have been very successful in the past and are used to doing well. And when they find themselves doing poorly, it is hard for them to admit that and get help early on."

"Some people come to me very late," she added. "They've been letting things go on for so long that it's hard to dig them out of that hole."

It can also seem hard, according to Dean Gail, to get involved. Her advice? Take advantage of available resources.

"I recommend looking at Cyberbuzz, going to the Office of Student Involvement, and trying out different things," she said. "Go to rush, even if you think you might not join a fraternity. Go to a WREK Radio training session, or another student organization's meeting. The important thing is to keep an open mind."

When asked about her decision to come to Tech, she said, "I am thrilled that I came to Tech, it's been good to me, and the students are amazing. Its a world-class institution."

On Aug. 15, Dean Gail celebrated a productive ten years of working in her position at Tech.

"I've had lots of opportunities in the last ten years to create new programs and services," she said. "I have been able to interact with students, associate deans and individual faculty members. I have also sat on several faculty committees," she said.

Dean Gail also had some very specific advice for the incoming freshman class.

"I recommend taking advantage of all of the resources on campus-tutoring, peer leaders, visiting with faculty, and online tutoring, to name a few. You should know and take advantage of these opportunities," she said. "You should also find ways to get involved and engaged-through intramurals, Greek organizations, student government, or student organizations-find at least one way to get engaged. Although you should be careful, and not do more than you can handle, you should find at least one way to get involved."

Remembering back to a few years ago when she went back to school, Dean Gail sympathized with the freshmen as they enter a new environment.

"Freshmen might feel a little scared or intimidated, because of all the intelligent people at Tech. I remember back a few years ago when I went back to school. It was a big Ivy League school, and it was kind of scary," she said, "but the thing to remember is that if we didn't believe you'd succeed, we wouldn't have asked you to come. We think everyone here can succeed, and we want them to.

"They should take advantage of the resources that are available to help them. They can come to the Office of the Dean of Students if they have issues and don't know where to turn," she said. "We can give them advice, ideas, and support for dealing with any difficult issues they have."

"This is an exciting time for students at Tech," she said. "We have a lot of new leadership programs, we're putting a lot of resources into Greek life, and we're making a commitment to make this a more caring campus to students. It's becoming more than just a great academic environment to excel in."

Students can fill out the General Intake Form at www.deanofstudents.gatech.edu to make an appointment to see an administrator at the Office of the Dean of Students.