By Adam Hartmann

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Phebe Kerr said she has heard this song and dance before.

Kerr, one of five finalists for the dean of students position at the University of Arizona, likened many of the current issues facing the UA to those facing her present school, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

"Some problems are universal," Kerr said, who is the Florida school's associate dean for student affairs.

Yesterday, she addressed a group of about 15 faculty and staff, along with one student, in a public forum in the Student Union's Rincon Room _ the first of five visits to be held at the UA over the next month.

Kerr said she has dealt with problems resulting from budget cuts and a student union in disarray, similar to issues the UA has faced in the past few years.

"I juggle a number of departments and responsibilities now, so the tasks themselves are not unknown to me," Kerr said.

She cited her work with disabled students as an example of an issue facing both schools. The UA recently completed a seven-step program that indicated the status of the university's disability access.

She said when she arrived at Florida Atlantic 12 years ago, the school did not have an office designed to assist disabled students.

"I had to develop that program almost from scratch," Kerr said, adding that while she has had success working with disabled students, the issue continues to become more complex.

"There are going to be suits flying," Kerr said of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. The statute mandates that universities not exclude any disabled persons from school services or programs and calls for all existing facilities to offer adequate access to disabled students.

Kerr also said she is well-versed on minority student issues because of her work with Florida Atlantic's international student affairs office.

The Florida office serves over 900 international students, mostly from India and China, providing host families to help those students adapt to their new surroundings.

The one student in attendance _ Eddie Lin, a computer engineering sophomore and a student aide in the Dean of Students Office _ said he wanted to see the new dean address issues such as the minority student centers on campus.

The UA's Office of Minority Student Affairs was cut over the summer due to a $1.1-million budget cut to the Student Affairs division.

"It's important to have a dean of students that will be able to have equal coverage of those," Lin said.

He also said he wanted to see improved organization in the dean's office.

And Estelle Bornhurst, director of the College of Medicine bookstore, said she wanted to see a dean who would work closely with students.

"I think this is a student-orientated college," Bornhurst said. "We wouldn't have a job if it weren't for the students."

The next finalist to speak on campus will be acting Dean of Students Melissa Vito on April 12. Read Next Article