Daniel Williams/Collegian
Senior Janice Faulkner is always on call in her new position as Mauck Residence’s “housemother.”
Residents of Mauck Hall were welcomed back to campus in January with the arrival of a new house director: 21-year-old Hillsdale senior Janice Faulkner.
The former Head Resident Assistant of Whitely Residence, Faulkner is the third in a string of Mauck house directors hired since 2004.
The last house director who stayed longer than a semester was Lyn Caskey, who accepted the position in 1999 and quit after nearly six years to live with her family in Florida. Admissions Counselor Colleen McGinness then stepped in temporarily for the spring of 2004 and was succeeded by Marcella Gray in Fall 2005.
Gray quit unexpectedly during the December break and a mad dash to find a replacement ensued.
“They have had the worst problems keeping someone,” Faulkner said. “I was called two weeks before coming back to campus with the offer to move to Mauck. They seem to be trying to create a Koon or Waterman situation here and I think the residents are mature enough for it to work.”
Dean of Women CarolAnn Barker is calling the student house director situation in Mauck an “experiment,” citing the impossibility of finding someone qualified to fill the full-time position before the dorm reopened as a reason for her decision.
“You have to go through a lot of applicants, a lot of interviews. Not just any person is qualified to be a house director,” Barker said. “And I believe Janice to be capable. She was the RA with the most seniority on campus. Things seem to be going smoothly in Mauck with [Head RA] Amy Plopper and the other Resident Assistants’ help.”
However, some students living in Mauck voiced concern about their house director being a student because of all the extra academic and social pressures that entail.
“Considering this is an upperclassman dorm, I don’t think the majority of students mind living here without a permanent dorm mother,” senior Kara Mack said. “But, it’s always nice to have someone reliable to go to. When I got something stuck in my eye in the wee hours of the morning, I had no problem getting help from Mrs. Gray last semester. She drove me to the hospital and stayed with me until it was resolved. If that was a student, I don’t know what would have happened. Would she have missed class?”
Dean Barker responded to these concerns with a steady gaze.
“I will admit,” Barker said, “this is an experiment. However, I believe the girls in Mauck are mature and [Faulkner] is competent. She is the kind of girl who would rush anyone to the hospital.”
Plopper, a senior who has lived in Mauck since the days of Caskey, said she agrees with the Dean.
“This dorm runs itself most days. We haven’t had any problems and everything has been going well,” Plopper said. “And I think Janice has had plenty of experience. She was the Head RA in Whitley when [former house mother] Mrs. Kelley was ill—she had to take on a lot of extra dorm responsibilities during that time.”
However, Plopper said, even the most experienced RA is no match for the wisdom of age.
“In general, I wouldn’t be in favor of this arrangement permanently,” Plopper said. “I think the RAs need to have more respect for the life experience of the house director.”