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President of the University > Assistant to the President > Vice President for Student Services and Dean of Students; Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty; Vice President for Institutional Advancement; Vice President for Business Services; Vice President for Enrollment Management

That is just the Administration. Each of those VP's stand for a complete office with their own staff and specific duties. Their titles describe what their office does. There is also an office for Alumni & Development.

Then, you have the faculty. Each department, such as Science, Arts, History, English, etc. have their own dean and assistant. For example, Dean of Science and his assistant. These 'departments' are called schools, or at least they were at my university. At BVU, we had: # SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
# SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION & ARTS
# SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & EXERCISE SCIENCE
# SCHOOL OF SCIENCE
# SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

Each of those schools has different majors, minors, and concentrations in them. I graduated with a major in Graphic Design and minor in Theater from the School of Communication & Arts.

Now, each professor usually has several classes, a certain faculty 'job' such as director, assistant, that kind of stuff. A professor is very rarely just a professor. Many of them are also required to do a sabbatical or renew their degree by taking courses in their school of work.

Obviously each Administration office is broken down into different things, like I mentioned before. There's career services, guidance services, campus security, food and dining, faculty services, all of that different stuff. So a college can be very complex.

Now, I did go to a private university, so that might have made everything more complex and segmented. I'm not sure. And it was small with a max pop. of 1,300. That does not include online pop. That's another office: online affairs. That office still isn't completely flushed out since online classes are still relatively new and we all know how long change can take.

I'll add more if I think of it. If you have questions, please feel free to ask.

For RPing purposes, it would probably be most important to know the student set up. For example, I was very active in my university, both with my peers and faculty. I met with a lot of my faculty to discuss grades or questions I had about something. One time, I wanted to change a final grade I received in Environmental Science. Now, the professor that year was not the regular professor for that class and was actually the Professor of Chemistry, not Environmental Sciences. Each professor has their own 'focus' and specialization. Sometimes they have to fill in for other professors in extreme situations and they might instruct that course in a way that is familiar with them but might make it harder for the students who enrolled in the class expecting one thing but getting another.

So, I first had to speak to that professor, of course, for my class. He was very nice and respectful, but he suggested that I should talk to the Dean of the School of Science. Normally I would have talked with the professor of Environmental Science, but as I said, that professor was not there that year.

I talked with the Dean and got my grade changed. If that hadn't have worked, I would have gone to the Dean of Students, which is the Dean of like all the Schools and student affairs. Other times when I had my grades changed, I'd just talk directly with the professor and I'd usually get them changed. Of course that's when I provided good evidence. It's not like you can easily get a grade changed. lol.

Some Schools are different than others and more or less flexible. I had a lot of friends in the School of Education and School of Religion, and the ones in Education had a lot harder time with their professors, generally, than I did or my friends in the School of Religion did.

Then, of course, there are also problems that arise with finances and scholarship problems. This is very common and students have to know how to take care of it themselves, like who to go to in what department. Now, I'm very proactive and direct, so I would ask around and find out what I needed to do. Generally, for work study issues and financial account issues, I'd go to the Business Office. When I had questions about loans or scholarships, I'd go to the Financial Services Office. I got to know a lot of the staff very well in those two offices. They were very helpful.

Then, you have the dorms, which have their own set up, almost like another community. What I like about dorm set up is that it's usually all run by peers. Students or people who were hired that were around our age had to deal with issues ourselves. Obviously, the RA (Resident Advisor) is the first step. The RA is always a fellow student. There are usually two RA's for each floor, unless the floor is really big. It's one boy and one girl if you live in a coed dorm, which I did. If not, two RAs of the same sex for each floor.

Then, past the RA, if the RA can't settle things, such as roommate issues or floor issues that are too complex or the students want another opinion, they go to the ARD (Assistant Resident Director). This is a student, usually a junior or senior, who oversees, usually, two dormitory buildings, depending on how big each building is. Then, if there are problems after that, they go to the RD (Resident Director). This person is NOT a student, but it is a peer that has been hired to come in and just oversee student issues and try to make everyone bond, especially the residence staff (RA's and ARD's). There is usually an RD for every two buildings, like with the ARD. The residence staff not only deals with issues, but they also put together parties for each floor and each building, the sole focus is to bond the residents.

Then, if issues arise after that (wow you'd have to have a big problem, then), you'd go to the Office of Student Services. Usually the SS Office deals with overall issues like campus security, counseling, wellness, food, that kind of stuff. But they can help with big disputes, too. Obviously the Office of SS is made up of older professionals. That's why they'd like students to resolve residence issues in the dorms with their peers, which I agree with.

Now, I was really involved in my college, both with the faculty and students. My senior year, I was the Marketing Director for BV Wellness. I know a lot about the inner workings of college, both from the student perspective and how it works for faculty (though not as well, obviously). I also was involved, either through friends or directly, with just about every school except for the math one and the science one. So if you have questions, please feel free to ask me and hopefully I'll have an answer.

The best way for students to get so involved is through campus groups and activities. That's how I became so involved and, well... grr. I hate to use this adjective, but it's what most of my friends used and I can't think of another word. 'Popular'. But the social set up of college is COMPLETELY different from that of high school. You're cooler by not 'fitting in', for thinking outside of the box, and being your own person. You develop lifelong friendships and groups by NOT trying to fit in, if that makes sense. By not being a follower. There was only one 'group' on campus that tried to be like the high school group of girls, and maaaan that didn't last long. They weren't given the time of day. lol.

I think that covers just about everything for an RP?

I read it! And that's MORE than enough detail, thank you, that was awesome!!

TOO LONG;DIDN'T READ.

Thanks for making me feel normal, girls. I totally read all of that.

AHA!!! I'm not alone in reading all of that!!!! Go me!

Thanks, Attamaki. smile I had to look up the official titles of some of the positions on my school website, but the descriptions I knew. Like I mentioned, I was really involved in college. I was in a lot of activities and had a lot of friends and people who knew me by my junior year. I absolutely loved college. I absorbed it, so I remember a lot about it and learned the inner workings of it. smile Surprisingly, I still made time during my senior year to discover and RP on Gaia! LOL!

HEY, CAMPERS.

I'm pretty sure that it's dead, but don't worry because I've brought an old defibrillator that may or may not work. I make no promises of when, precisely, I'll use said defib, but I'll try to make it by the end of the day. I've just been really busy with school (band+6 advanced classes=no personal time) and then I managed to shove myself into an anime convention this weekend, so... yeah.

Anyways, sorry for being so lazy. I'm not a leader, really, but I'll try to be better. (Working word is 'try.')