To paint a picture of Jill Carr is to paint of a clear, strong picture of the University.
As Vice President for Student Affairs, the job requires a strong personality full of creativity, passion and school spirit. All of which Carr’s colleagues say she emulates every day.
From balancing responsibilities in the Dean of Students Office, Multicultural Affairs, Campus Activities and many more, Carr always has her plate full but never fails to come through for the University and her community.
Deanna Vatan Woodhouse, director of the Division of Student Affairs, said, “She is BGSU to me. She embodies what it means to be a member of the BGSU community.”
Jodi Webb, dean of students, echoes Woodhouse’s words by saying, “Jill is very good at what she does.”
Carr began her journey in student affairs in her junior year undergraduate when she became a resident advisor, which springboarded a career in Residence Life for 19 more years.
Carr explained that she lived as a live-in hall director for the first four of her 19 years, which gave her the first exposure to how rewarding and exciting it was to work with students and for student affairs.
Carr then moved to Dean of Students at the University while the Vice President for Student Affairs was Dr. Ed Whipple. She worked for this office for 35 years when she planned her first retirement, until there was a switch in presidency.
Whipple asked Carr if she would stay to help the transition period for a year. Carr came out of retirement in August 1, 2011.
When Whipple left, the position for Vice President for Students Affairs was open. President Mary Ellen Mazey spoke with Carr about filling the position.
“I developed an excellent relationship with her,” Carr said about President Mazey.
When asked about why retirement again, Carr said her energy is declining and said how it was important to have energy when your main objective is be successful.
“I started to feel my energy declining a little bit and I never want to lose the energy it takes to be successful working with students on this campus,” she said. “It feels right.”
Even though timing may be right, many of Carr’s colleagues were pained to see her go.
Woodhouse explain that Carr is leaving an incredibly strong legacy for the students here at the University and for the Office of Student Affairs.
“She has set a standard for student affairs … It’s a high standard and it’s one that we should be working towards every single day. The foundation of [that standard] is that students are our top priority,” she said.
Woodhouse also explained that Carr made student affairs a support system in-and-out of the office; that the work that was done for the students and campus “are never standing alone.”
Webb said that Carr has always been a “sounding board” for her in her professional and personal life.
“She’s certainly been more to than me just a supervisor …. She’s been a really really good friend and mentor,” she said. “She’s been a big part of my life.”
Carr said that she will miss working with University students more than anything.
Carr described her team in Student Affairs as the “people that get her through the day.”
“…they are so dedicated to BGSU students and this campus,” she said. “I couldn’t do this job without the team of people around me. When I’m frustrated and want to bang my head against the wall, I can call any one of them and say, ‘Okay, talk me off the edge here.’”
Woodhouse said that Carr is an example in her life everyday and that she models her behavior after Carr’s influence.
“Every email I send; every conversation I have, I think, ‘What would Jill do?’ Or, ‘How would Jill say it?’” Woodhouse said.
“It’s been an honor,” Carr said about her time at the University, as tears filled her eyes.
