Cowboy Comeback: Doug Hallenbeck reflects on his college days as he returns to OSU

Thursday, August 29, 2019

This spring, Dr. Doug Hallenbeck became OSU's new Vice President of Student Affairs

The campus is familiar territory for him, having worked in student housing at OSU from 1996-2003 while completing his doctorate in applied behavioral studies. A visit just a week after he began his new job revealed an administrator excited to take the reins and make a positive impact on OSU students.

Let's start at the beginning. Where are your roots?
I was born in Iowa while my dad worked at Iowa State. Then I moved to Athens, Georgia, when I was 5 because my dad was the director of housing for the University of Georgia. That’s home ... I graduated high school there. My brother and his family and my parents live there. I went to school at Georgia College, got a degree in psychology there, and was an RA (residence assistant) and a cheerleader there. I was also a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

You were a cheerleader?
We were the first ever co-ed college cheerleading squad! Funny story, I was sitting in the cafeteria one day and this guy came in with a flyer and said, “You know, you can be a Georgia College cheerleader!” About five of us tried out since we didn’t have anything else to do, and we made the team as freshmen. I did it all four years. I had been a football player in high school — we did the yells and helped the girls do their stunts, but we didn’t do flips or the things guys do today!

You mentioned your dad worked in higher education.
Yes. I started painting residence halls when I was 16 — it’s really where I got my start in student housing. It’s a unique aspect of student affairs with the operations and custodial aspects, understanding the maintenance aspect. The staff had such an affinity for my father, and it really taught me a lot about the importance of how you treat people.

What would you say your fondest college memory would be?
When I was an RA, we’d stay up all night playing cards with the students in the lobby in an old building with no air conditioning, no cable TV. ... When I look back it was those moments I enjoyed the most.

What is your favorite aspect of student affairs?
I grew up around student housing — and I see it really as the delivery mechanism for what we do in student affairs and a good training ground. But the thing about student affairs on college campuses is that it’s always changing, and you need all different aspects of it to work together. It’s not just the programmatic side of student life, but also the operations side ... cooking meals, cleaning the halls. Treating students when they’re sick, talking to them when they’re down ... all of it works together in a pretty unique way. People forget how much happens outside the classroom, how much you learn about what it takes to be a good citizen, a good employee, family member outside the classroom.

So what made you want to come back to OSU?
OSU has always been the one school — and I’ve been at several ... Mississippi State, the University of Florida, SMU, Clemson — that I always said I’d go back and work there again.

And why is that?
Part of it is we have a relatively calm student body. I was here for seven years and got pretty involved, played softball, went to church. I enjoy the size of Stillwater. And it’s a land-grant institution, the type of university I want to work for.

How has OSU changed since you were here?
Not a whole lot in terms of culture and the feel. Obviously, some new buildings, more students and some growth. But people are still wanting to do right ... there’s an enthusiasm here. It’s very comfortable to be back. It’s surprising the amount of people still working on campus that I knew years ago when I was here in the late ’90s.

Is there a specific area you really hope to focus on?
Helping the institution focus on retention efforts. Most of the reason students leave is something happening outside the classroom. Mental health issues and wellness issues are big. The level of anxiety and stress keeps going up for students across the country, so we need to find some strategies involving recreation, nutrition, sleep patterns — those sorts of things will be areas we focus on. Career readiness — what are we doing to add value back to the state? Student affairs can get philosophical and not practical, and
we need to focus on critical thinking, learning across differences, leadership, global engagement — those types of things we will look at as we start our strategic planning for the division this summer. We are here to serve the academic mission of the institution.

What do you do for fun when you’re not at work? I heard you play the guitar!
I do play the guitar and I like to run — those two things for sure. I play golf — not well — on occasion. I love sports and just went to a baseball game the other day. I also have three kids — two daughters in college and a son who’s a junior in high school — so I enjoy spending time with them, of course!