Former Mathey DSL takes on senior position in Career Services

Matthew Frawley, the former Director of Student Life of Mathey College, has departed his position in Mathey to work as the Senior Associate Director of Career Education in the University's Office of Career Services.

His new position became effective on Nov. 30, according to the Career Services website.

Frawley served as the DSL of Mathey for more than eight years, according to Head of Mathey College Harriet Flower.

Frawley explained that he will be helping organize the Career and Life Vision workshops and working on integrating those workshops more into campus life. He said that as the DSL, he had a pulse on student lifeand was able to understand what students will likely be receptive to. He added he has also built good relationships with colleagues in many different areas of campus, which will help Career Services further integrate into campus life.

Career Services Director of External Relations and Operations Evangeline Kubu said that Frawley brings a wealth of expertise and extensive knowledge of the residential college system to his new position with Career Services, adding that Frawley really understandshow the residential colleges work and is in an excellent position to facilitate greater collaboration between Career Services and the residential colleges.

She added that Frawley has a grasp on how students progress through their time at the University and understands what their needs are.

“We are looking forward to his creativity, his energy, his innovative thinking and ways that we can expand our career education program,” Kubu said.

Flower said that the search for a new DSL is currently underway and that all advertisements for the position have been posted, explaining that the applicants will be reviewed and selected for interviews by a search committee. This committee will be comprised of both administrators in Mathey and administrators working in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, she said.

She noted that the DSL position is a very demanding job, requiring the DSL to balance a number of very different skills and roles. For example, she said, the person must be able to be both an authority figure with disciplinary power and approachable for students.

“You need someone who can build community in a diverse environment but can also stay calm in a crisis and deal with those tough moments that may come up,” she said.

Frawley said that he thinks his biggest accomplishment as DSL was probably his efforts to expand what goes into the role of a residential college advisor.

“I feel like we really changed understanding of that role from almost an information hub to really focusing on building communities within the residential colleges and making people feel at home,” he said.

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Frawley explained that in addition to adapting the RCA position, he also worked toward increasing college loyalty. He noted that though there was very little enthusiasm several years ago at events such as awards ceremonies, those events now display clear residential college pride. He has helped create events such as Clash of the Colleges and intercollegiate Quidditch in order to increase residential college spirit, he said.

Frawley explained that now he will be more intentional about getting time with students, which was easier when he could easily grab daily lunches with students in Mathey. However, because he will also be doing career and life counseling for students, he will still be interacting with undergraduates to a significant degree.

“It will change, but I’m going to do as much as I can to make it change as little as possible,” he said.

He noted that though he is sad to be leaving Mathey, he will hopefully be able to expand the positive work he did for the residential college to help the whole university.

“We’re sad he’s leaving but we’re thrilled that he has this incredibly cool job and we will get to work with him in a different capacity, where I think he really will add a whole new dimension to Career Services,” Flower said.