Staff

The Division of Student Affairs is committed to the success of all students at SRU.  Our work focuses on advocating for students so that they can achieve their goals in college and beyond.

Dr. David Wilmes, Chief Student Affairs Officer
Dr. Wilmes provides leadership and strategic direction for Student Affairs through management, strategic planning, and assessment of the subdivision.  Reporting to the President, he advocates for institutional and policy changes that enhance student retention and persistence at SRU.

Stacy Bluedorn, Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Bluedorn provides assistance to the departments that comprise Student Affairs in regard to budgetary expenditures, travel requests and human resources.  She also provides administrative support for the Chief Student Affairs Officer.

Leadership Team:

Kristina Benkeser 

MSN, CRNP, Director, Health & Wellness/ Director, Student Health Services

Benkeser provides leadership and support for the areas of Disability Services, Campus Recreation and Student Health Services. Reporting to the Chief Student Affairs Officer, she ensures quality services and programs are available for students.

Patrick Beswick

Interim Director of Student Engagement & Leadership

 Under Beswick's purview is the leadership development of our students and all of the programmatic endeavors.  This is inclusive of Fraternity/Sorority Greek Affairs, the student government association, association for residence hall students, community and resident assistant training, development, and recruitment, student clubs and organizations, the university programming board, and our residential curriculum for the residence halls.  Beswick has worked at SRU for nearly 16 years, and working with our student leaders is beyond rewarding.

Daniel Brown

Director of Housing & Residence Life

Mr. Brown provides leadership to a dedicated team of four professional staff in the Office of Housing, within the Office of Housing and Residence Life.  The primary focus of the Housing team is providing secure and comfortable on-campus accommodations for the residential population. Areas of oversight include: on-campus housing agreements, room selection/assignment processes and occupancy management; residential card access and welcome desk operations; contracted custodial services in residence halls; serves as liaison with facilities staff as needed to support and assist with coordination of special maintenance needs, service outages and renovation projects.

Dr. Natalie Burick

Director of Disability Services & Rock Life Program

Dr. Burick provides access and support to students with disabilities across the campus setting. Her office also provides support for students, faculty, and staff through programming and trainings related to disability matters. Dr. Burick and her staff are strong advocates for all students with disabilities.

Ivory Dunlap

Director of Inclusive Excellence 

Karla Fonner

Dean of Students

Dean Fonner provides oversight and strategic planning for our campus Care Network and our department of Student Conduct.  She  also the chair of our campus Care Coordination Team, Behavioral Intervention and Response Team and Student Affairs Critical Incident Response Team. In addition to those duties, Dean Fonner serves as the campus deputy Title IX Coordinator. 

Scott Irlbacher

Director of Student Conduct

Mr. Irlbacher reports to the Dean of Students and is responsible for the administration of the University Student Code of Conduct. He partners with campus and community stakeholders to see students are fairly and evenly held responsible for alleged violations and when necessary provides educational sanctions to ensure student learning and success.

Dr. Brian Mortimer

Director of Campus Recreation

Promotes wellness through recreation!  Offers recreational and wellness programs utilizing state of the art facilities and equipment.   This is a list of facilities and programs offered through campus recreation.  Facilities include the Aebersold Student Recreation Center (ARC), McFarland Outdoor Recreation Complex (MAC), Ski Lodge, Disc Golf Course, Campground, High Rope, Low Rope and Leadership Reaction Courses.  Examples of programming include personal training, group fitness, outdoor adventures, aquatics, intramurals, sport clubs, and REACH programming (high rope and low rope elements).  Website: www.sru.edu/arc; Twitter: @srucampusrec; Instagram: @srucampusrec; Facebook: SRU Campus Recreation-The ARC