Improving Student Lives as Vice President of Student Affairs
J. Rex Tolliver (Louisiana State University, 2000) is the new vice president for student affairs and academic support at the University of South Carolina focused on the student experience. Five years ago, he became vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago. Tolliver has said being a first-generation college student contributes to the value he places on higher education and his focus on students. “If we don’t have students at the center of what we do, the university will never be as great as it could be,” he said. “Whether I’m having conversations with the president or provost or the CFO, I’m going to be talking about leading with the students-first agenda and that means centering those discussions around what can we do to improve student’s lives.”