Two changes are coming to the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development (SALD) this semester.

The first of these changes will be name of the office, which will change from SALD to the Office of Student Engagement. Director Michael Kalage said the change was enacted to better represent all the services the office offers students.

“We started having conversations about this last year when we realized that our office offers a lot more to campus than just activities and leadership programs,” said Kalage. “So, we were trying to find a term and title that really encompassed everything that we offer students.”

According to Kalage, the timing of the name change was done strategically so that incoming students would be aware of the renaming.

“We did think about waiting for the fall semester. We thought we’d kick off the new year with a new name,” said Kalage. “Then we realized that a lot of communications are going out to incoming students about orientation, so we didn’t want them to get stuff from student activities and then they come to campus and our name is student engagement.”

According to Kalage, the renaming of the office is just one part of a larger plan.

“We’re just looking to update things that have gotten a little stale and keep people guessing what we’re going to do next,” said Kalage.

The second change is that Haleigh Zurek has been named the Assistant Director for Campus Programming. This position was formerly known as Assistant Director of Student Activities & Leadership Development.

Zurek said she is excited to continue working with the office after working there throughout her undergraduate and graduate years at Marywood.

“[Former Director of the Office of Activities and Leadership Development] Kimberly Coleman and Michael Kalage have been my idols through my college career, and it is a dream come true for me to work here now,” said Zurek.

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Twitter: @BrianaRyanTWW