The Office of Student Activities (OSA), a department that received national press coverage last semester when Director Jodi Nealley was fired for embezzlement, will change its name to the Office for Campus Life (OCL)next semester.
But Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said the change was not a direct reaction to last semester's scandal, in which Tufts said Nealley stole $300,000 from accounts overseen by the OSA. The office's new name, Reitman said, is meant to better reflect the OSA's "large role in all forms of campus life," rather than exclusively in student activities.
According to its Web site, the OSA "is involved in educating and developing the whole student through a wide range of services, including advising, programming and operations services."
The OSA is responsible for overseeing Tufts' roughly 170 student organizations. The OSA also coordinates events such as Club Hotung and Senior Week. In addition, the OSA oversees the daily operations of the Mayer Campus Center.
Reitman said the name change is "not directly" related to the Nealley scandal, adding that there have been multiple personnel changes in the OSA this year.
"I think that all the personnel changes have just given us the opportunity to look at the position description and to reflect on ... the broader scope of what the office really does," Reitman said.
"'The Office for Campus Life' is a more inclusive, appropriate description of all the parts of the job," Reitman added. "The [OSA] plays a large role ... with orientation, with commencement, with so many different parts in the community ...The view is that the contributions and leadership of that office is better expressed by a title that talks about campus life, not just student activities.
The focus of the OCL will also change next year. It will be more involved in student activities such as New Student Orientation, which Reitman said "wasn't so much a part of the old description."
According to Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Neil DiBiase, a junior, the changes to the OSA will not have a large influence on the TCU Senate or the Tufts community in general.
"I don't perceive any difference in the relationship between that organization and the Senate," DiBiase said.
He agreed with Reitman, saying that the name change was not based on the Neally incident, but rather to give the organization a more fitting moniker.
"I think the name change more accurately reflects what that office will be doing," DiBiase said.
The new director's position was posted "over a month ago," according to Reitman, who said there have been many applications thus far. A search committee for the position is emerging, and Reitman expects to have a new director in place by the summer.
