Feature photo by Jenene Grover
Story by Jenene Grover
The new Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Khalilah Doss, is already impacting campus with her approachability and eagerness to serve and began exhibiting True Blue spirit within her first few months working at MTSU.
Doss grew up in Jamaica, with what she described as humble beginnings. Her parents divorced when she was in high school, resulting in her living with her aunt and uncle, who eventually became her second parents. She ventured out of the familiarity of her home in Jamaica at 19 to pursue an education in economics and became a first-generation college student.
“I knew that track was the trajectory for me to change the lives of not just my life, but the lives of my family,” Doss said. “Right? So it was hard. It was scary. It was difficult. But that was something that I knew I had to do, and I had to figure it out.”
Her original career aspirations when she finished college included returning home to Jamaica and going into the banking and finance industry. When that changed, she pursued a Master’s in Public Administration and Policy, hoping to return home and become involved in Jamaican politics. That turned into pursuing a Ph.D., with a goal to work in higher education and impact students.
“I want students to know that they are better than their mistakes,” Doss said. “I want students to know that they are redeemable when they make mistakes. I want students to know that a college campus is the marketplace for ideas where they learn about themselves and find out more about themselves if they haven’t already. And that is, it’s safe for them to be who they are, regardless of who that is, right?”
A VPSA’s job is to deal with students outside of the classroom. Doss clarified that even though her experience with students is not in a classroom setting, there is still learning through conversations and engagement.
Doss often surprises students on campus whenever she offers them a ride on her golf cart, and she emphasized the importance of students to her job, joking that the administration knew how important students were when they put “student” in her title twice.
Student Government Association President Michai Mosby gave many examples of his favorite anecdotes with Doss so far, including some of her “Dossisms” he had scribbled down in a notebook. Mosby said that he knew any time he saw her around campus, she would take a selfie with him, as she is big on capturing moments.
“In one of our one-on-ones, she said that ‘I’m just a squirrel in y’all’s world,’” Mosby said. “She was like, ‘don’t treat me like jerk chicken when I’m an oxtail’…It creates a fun atmosphere. It makes the job easier when you and your VPSA have a personal relationship.”
Mosby shared a video of Doss seeing a student in a University of Tennessee shirt in Phillips Bookstore the Friday before the first week, immediately buying him a new MTSU shirt. The video showed Doss explaining the situation to the camera and the student apologizing for wearing the orange shirt (while sporting his new blue shirt).
Her first public initiative since beginning July 15, making all Student Union spaces free for organizations, was passed on to her by Mosby. Doss succeeded in providing spaces like the Student Union Ballroom and Keathley University Center Theater, regardless of the organization’s size or budget.
She carefully explained that the budget for student spaces remains at the $40 Student Government Association fee included in the Program Services Fees. The administration simply found a way to move the money around in a way that she thought positively affected students.
“I’m always one to say, let’s try a thing and see,” Doss said. “But I think as we talked through this, we realized this is something we could sustain.”
Mosby said that the most significant thing on his agenda for this year was addressing the Union spaces issue, and he said he was pleased to see it addressed within 30 days.
“Her intention on creating a lasting impact with not only students but everyone that she encounters is very evident,” Mosby said.
Speaking with Doss in the first week of school brought parking issues to the forefront of the discussion. She expressed some sympathy for the issue but understood by having gone around to different parking lots throughout the day that the issue is not lack of parking on campus but lack of close parking.
“I’ve also been told that our buses are pretty consistent, and you can track them, right,” Doss said. “So not to negate the fact that people do not want to park closer to their res halls or to dining or to their classes, but we do have parking spots.”
She recognized that parking has been a prominent issue for many years but is unlikely to be resolved as other projects are prioritized. For example, Womack Apartments will be torn down, with a new residence hall taking its place. However, Doss said the loss of Womack’s beds and the building of 500 more will only add 350 or so beds, not adding much housing space or resolving the lack of housing.
Doss said she had not heard about the United Campus Worker’s fight for bi-weekly pay on MTSU’s campus but planned to look into it and report back to the student body as to why bi-weekly pay had not been implemented. SGA passed legislation last academic year in support of a UCW petition, but no changes have been made to the MTSU pay system. Doss gave insight as to some possibilities the bi-weekly pay system had not been implemented, offering experiences from her time at other universities.
“It’s just flipping that payroll system, the cost of doing that and the cost of sending electronic deposits twice a month instead of once a month for a larger group of folks, don’t know if that’s the case here,” Doss said.
Before coming to MTSU, Doss worked as the VPSA at the University of Southern Indiana.
Her interview process was like any other VPSA position, with administration and students asking her questions and the Board of Trustees’ approval. Mosby showed her around campus, just like the other candidates for the position. His tour sealed his opinion that she was the perfect person for the job.
“Dr. Doss was the only candidate who made students feel seen when she came,” Mosby said. “I had the pleasure of chairing the student presentation, or the student interview, and I even gave each candidate a tour of campus. Dr. Doss was the only candidate who was interested in what students did outside of MTSU, personal goals, career goals.”
Doss’s first impression of Murfreesboro was positive, though she admitted she did not get to see much of it when she interviewed originally. The summer heat momentarily paused her family from venturing out and exploring the area, but her goal is to begin seeing more Murfreesboro when the weather starts cooling down.
She explained that her entire life revolves around her family, especially her two children. One of her children is neurotypical and the other is autistic and minimally verbal, taking up much of her time. She loved to read when she had time for it before having children. Her entire family loves traveling, with her autistic son saying “airplane” over the past few months, expressing his itch for more travel.
Doss said that she is most looking forward to becoming a bridge-builder between administration and students and celebrating student accomplishments. She is least looking forward to navigating campus during the winter months, dreading the “unhinged” reactions to people in the snow and ice.
All of her friends call Doss Princess Poppy from the animated film “Trolls” because of how positive her attitude is. She said she is wary of toxic positivity, but she believes in counting both good and bad experiences as joy and learning from those experiences.
Throughout her life, she learned from her experiences as a black woman in administrative positions. She said that feeling comfortable taking up space is really important but is something that took growth and maturity to accomplish.
“I often share that the first thing I put on in the mornings is my confidence, and sometimes I don’t even take it off,” Doss said. “And what that means for me is there is nothing that a person or a group of folks can say to me about me that does not align with my beliefs of who I am that is going to bother me.”
Because her position is one that involves discipline and developing relationships with students, she explained that although she wants to know all the students, she will have to be the bad guy at times. She gave examples from her own family, saying that she disagrees and argues with her husband and children at times, but that does not diminish her love for them.
“So to think that we won’t disagree when the people who we are most intimately connected with we disagree with, it’s a fallacy,” Doss said. “And just, I don’t believe in fallacies and fairy tales. So, let’s get this work done to make our campus better and to impact the lives of the students who have chosen to come here and make the commitment to come here because we owe it to each other to create an environment that supports everyone holistically.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly said a new dorm building would add five beds when the correct number is 350.
Jenene Grover is the News Editor for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact the News and Assistant News Editor, email [email protected].
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