’06 Class Dean Sad to See the Seniors Go

As a class dean, David Phillips spends much of his time advising students – discussing academic, social, and personal challenges and achieving personal goals. He’ll work with individual students, professors and even parents, to support students in their pursuit of a positive learning experience.

“What I like about my job is that I get to deal with the whole student rather than just a particular aspect of a student’s life,” Phillips says. “That’s our mission as class deans. We want to get to know them on an academic and personal level.”

Phillips, associate dean of the college and dean for the Class of 2006, oversees about 725 students in his class. He’s a source of information on academic standing; major choices; graduation requirements; university policies and procedures; and services, opportunities and resources available at the university and surrounding Middletown community.

As this year’s senior class dean, Phillips certifies students for graduation. He talks to the seniors about their academic records, postgraduate options and preparing themselves for life after Wesleyan. He runs an audit on every student to insure they have 32 credits and meet other graduation requirements.

“Each student’s credit analysis is about five pages long, so I go through a stack of papers about two feet high,” Phillips says, smiling. “It’s exciting to know that these students will be graduating soon and they will go off and begin their life-long careers.”

The New Haven, Conn. native has a special bond with the international community. Phillips, whose father worked for the State Department, considers himself an “international student” having lived in Peru, Mexico, the Philippines, New Zealand and India before returning to the States for college.

Some seniors he knows only through phone calls and e-mails, but others he sees on a regular basis during daily drop-in hours.

“I wish more would come by and say hello,” he says. “I get to meet a lot of the students that way.”

Class of 2006 president Pacho Carreno is a frequent visitor in the Dean’s Office. Phillips helped Carreno prepare for his post-Wesleyan career, at a real estate consulting firm in Boston.

“Dean Phillips has been my most helpful academic advisor at Wesleyan,” Carreno says. “His advice has enhanced my experience and has helped me to take advantage of the best that Wesleyan has to offer. I’m ready to graduate but I wish I could have an advisor like him guiding me through the real world.”

Maria Cruz-Saco, dean of the college, says as senior class dean, Phillips is instrumental in helping students complete their educational pathways at Wesleyan and as they move out into careers.

“David has a deep knowledge of Wesleyan’s students and the curricular requirements,” she says. “He is insightful, supportive, a problem-solver by-excellence and loves his advising role.”

Phillips came to Wesleyan six years ago as the associate dean of the college and dean for the class of 2006. It is his first administrative job, but his background in social history, cultural studies, and the history of technology makes him an ideal advisor for students with interests across the curriculum.