Linda Baughman-Terry will bring her 22 years of diverse leadership experience to the Dean of Students office beginning Sept. 21.

Baughman-Terry comes to St. Thomas from Century College in White Bear Lake, where she was a tenured faculty member and chair of the counseling department. She has worked at St. Thomas before, and said she is very excited for the new opportunity.

“I’m really honored to be returning and serving in this role,” Baughman-Terry said. “I think it’s an incredible opportunity to lead a dean of students office and to continue so many good things already going on … To be somewhere where I can contribute to student growth and development means a lot to me.”

The extensive selection process included a national search for someone to fill the position. Forty people applied for the job. Phone interviews narrowed the pool to eight, followed by Skype interviews, which lowered it to three. After each of the three finalists spent a full day on campus, the university selected Baughman-Terry for the position.

Baughman-Terry is no stranger to St. Thomas – she held a variety of positions during her previous stint at the university from 1992 to 2005, including residence hall director, interim director of orientation and academic counselor and director of academic counseling.

Baughman-Terry said it was her hope to one day be a dean of students, particularly at St. Thomas.

“I would say I was (hoping) for the opportunity to move into a dean of students role, but I was very intentional about wanting to return to a liberal arts university, and ideally I’d love to return to St. Thomas,” she said. “This is kind of exactly where I wanted to be in my career at this point.”

The role of the dean was recently changed to better align with the university’s strategic plan. A big part of the plan involves supporting a diverse student body, something selection committee co-chair Ann Johnson said Baughman-Terry has experience with.

“We were very impressed, for instance, with all the work and projects she has been involved with at Century around diversity and supporting diverse students in terms of ensuring academic success for diverse students,” Johnson said. “That, of course, fits very well with what we’re trying to do here at St. Thomas.”

Fellow selection committee co-chair Lori Friedman believes Baughman-Terry’s previous experience will also help her connect with faculty.

“She was not in student affairs before when she was here. She was in academic counseling, so I think bringing her academic affairs hat over to the student affairs side can really help kind of connect with faculty,” Friedman said.

Baughman-Terry already has ideas of what she wants to accomplish during her tenure.

“I hope to play a large role in leading a staff that’s very committed to equity, to creating an equitable environment for all students,” she said. “That’s a piece I’m very passionate about. I hope to lead a staff that’s very committed to equity.”

She was quick to add, however, that she won’t know some of her goals until she actually sets foot on campus.

“I’m anxious to hear from students about their St. Thomas experience,” she said. “I think part of my goals will be developed from talking with students and hearing about what they have to say … I need to learn from the people that are there. That is going to help develop my goals as well.”

Baughman-Terry replaces interim dean Madonna McDermott. McDermott assumed the interim role in February after longtime Dean of Students Karen Lange was appointed interim vice president for student affairs. Lange replaced former Vice President of Student Affairs Jane Canney after her resignation in December 2014.

The Division of Student Affairs is hosting a welcome reception for Baughman-Terry from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 21 in the Iverson Hearth Room in Anderson Student Center.

Willie Faust can be reached at faus5612@stthomas.edu.