Since starting at The University of Baltimore in 2016, Pavan Purswani has held various roles that all relate back to supporting students and helping them succeed.
It’s fitting, then, too, that he ushers graduating students onto the stage at commencement as they prepare to accept their diploma. Pavan is taking on a new challenge at UBalt, though the work isn’t wholly unfamiliar. Taking a break at Llamas’ Corner, about a half mile from campus, Pavan shared about his new position and what he loves about working in higher education, particularly at UBalt.
Tell us a little bit about your new title and how it relates to your past roles at UBalt.
My new title is interim assistant dean of students and Title IX coordinator. Previously, I was the director of student support, and I will still function in that role. The big change is my title nine responsibilities. Previously I had been a title nine team member, which meant I did investigations or supported the coordinator in different needs. Now I am the coordinator, so the big difference is it is now my responsibility to make sure that we're educating the community to try to prevent sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, and it's now my job to ensure that our process of investigating and reporting we do all the things we're supposed to do and show the proper respect and deference to, you know, the real people that are in these processes. The benefit that I see is that we were doing a lot of that work in student support anyways, so people were working with Compass Case Management or the Student Assistance Program, looking for resources or kind of discussing what they needed, and so now there's this opportunity to kind of streamline it and have it all come in a more thoughtful and kind of coherent package, so it doesn't feel like we're running six different races knowing that we still have to Be attentive to the work that needs to be done, specific to Title IX.
You've held different roles since coming to UBalt in 2016, and each one seems student focused. Did you start out looking for that kind of role, and why do you stick with it?
When I came to UBalt, I had just left a job that was also student facing, but was really challenging, and it made me question if I still wanted to do what I did. At UBalt, it was a second chance for me to rediscover what I was passionate about. When I came to UBalt, and I was like, do I still want to do this thing that I've devoted my life to? And it was a resounding yes. This is an institution that actually does all the things that the other institutions you worked at said they did but maybe they weren't. So, I've kind of fallen in love with the school in terms of who our students are and what our mission is.
I started off with orientation and commencement, and I thought that's a very unique pairing, but I thought it was a really good way of reminding me of the bookends of what we're trying to accomplish. That rejuvenated me. Then there was a significant transition in our division in 2018 and because of my previous responsibilities in residence life and other things, they asked if I’d want to work in what was then the Office of Community Life and later became the Office of Student Support.
Even with this current job that I just accepted, one of the things that made me ultimately say yes is when folks manage some of the things that I do, they're always thoughtful about the fact that these are real people with whole lives. They would talk a lot about the holistic student. For me, it's really important that whatever process we're working toward, whatever we're doing, that we remember that there are whole people here. I see UBalt as an opportunity to be as holistic as higher ed says it is, versus the reality of it.
What is the most important lesson you've learned from a student or from an experience you've had with the students while being here?
If anybody ever comes to my office, you'll see that I am a knick-knacky guy, and I have stuff everywhere, and I just got something to hang up that says: We can do hard things.
There are students doing these great things while managing a whole host of challenges. So for me, there's this realization that, to oversimplify it, the juice is worth the squeeze. I still fundamentally believe that higher education is the path to a better life, and I know that we are living through times where that is fundamentally in question, but everyone I know who has gone through the educational journey has come out better for it.
We end all our Charles Street Chats with the same question: What do you love most about Baltimore? Here’s Pavan’s answer.
It's impossible for me to answer this question without referencing Cleveland. I grew up in Cleveland, and one of the things I love about Baltimore is how much they have in common. And But the people. I have never felt uncomfortable or anything but accepted and welcome. I just love the people, the culture, and how welcoming it is.