Trietley settles in to vice provost position

Richard Trietley started off the academic year thinking he'd be overseeing safety and secu-rity on campus. Turns out, he will oversee a broader area of university life.

St. Bonaventure University announced last Thursday Trietley would take on the university's full-time position as vice provost for student life - a role he had previously held on an interim basis.

Trietley, '86, said he grew up in Olean and the university was an important part of his life while growing up.

"I believe in Bona brown and white," he said.

Trietley said he viewed his familiarity with the university as one of his strengths while interviewing for the vice provost position.

"A huge part of my life has been associated with St. Bonaventure, and it's very important to me that our university succeed, and it's very important to me that our students succeed," he said. "I want our students to have a similar experience that I was able to have as a result of my Bonaventure education."

Trietley said his 22 years in the military gave him experience with student life because he dealt with individuals of the same age group as college students.

"I really felt like I understood the developmental process of people at that age," he said. "I understood the challenges, and I understand the issues."

The leadership skills Trietley learned in his military career also made him a good fit for the position, he said.

"The biggest thing I brought to the table is that I have an incredible amount of leadership management from being an army officer," he said.

Trietley retired as head of the university's ROTC program in May and became director of Safety and Security last summer. He took on interim vice provost duties when former vice provost for student life, Stephen Pugliese, resigned in November, citing family reasons, according to previous articles in The Bona Venture.

Trietley said the transition into the permanent position has been easy and smooth because he knew what to expect. He described the int-erim position as a four-month-long on-the-job interview.

"I think the administration was able to evaluate me in terms of how I really performed," Trietley said.

Trietley said the people in his department are very talented and team players.

"I just feel that with this particular group we have in place, the sky is the limit for Student Life," he said. "I quickly realized this is a team I want to be a part of, a team I want to lead."

The vice provost for student life oversees responsibilities including residence life, housing, Safety and Security, Health Services, the Counseling Center, Recreation and Leadership and the Damietta Center.

Jeff Butler, Student Government Association vice president, wrote in an e-mail he and the other members of SGA will be working directly with Trietley on issues related to students on campus. Some of these issues include parking, housing and safety on campus.

"We currently meet at least once a week, and every meeting we bring him the questions and concerns we hear daily from students," Butler wrote.

Trietley's position is important for SGA to accomplish its job, Butler wrote.

"It is the responsibility of student government to be the voice of the students in administrative decisions, and we accomplish this through cooperation of (Trietley's) office," he wrote.

Trietley said his motto is, "We exist because of the students," and believes all Student Life actions should attempt to accomplish this goal.

"I want to view every day as an opportunity to improve our students' experience here at St. Bonaventure and better prepare them for the future," Trietley said.

Along with focusing on putting students first, Trietley said he hopes to better identify the areas in which students learn life lessons.

"When we do something here it should be with a goal in mind to improve a certain learning outcome for our students," he said. "We have to do a better job of identifying them and accomplishing them."

Trietley said he has enjoyed his position so far and is excited for the future.

"If I wake up every morning and look in the mirror and I'm happy with what I'm doing and happy with what I see, then I think I'm in the right job, and so far it's absolutely been that way," he said. "I hope to have a very long career here and make a difference."e-mail: andrzecj@sbu.edu