Jana Lynn Patterson, who has provided outstanding leadership in 21 years of service in Elon University’s Division of Student Life, has been promoted to assistant vice president for student life. She will also continue her duties as associate dean of students, a position she has held since 1989.
“Dean Patterson is an exceptionally talented leader. She has a vast knowledge of student development and her dedication to promoting students’ welfare is unparalleled,” said Smith Jackson, vice president for student life and dean of students. “This promotion recognizes Jana Lynn’s numerous contributions to the Division of Student Life and the University, while centralizing all of the university’s student development services under the Office of Student Development, which she leads.”
Patterson’s current responsibilities fall into five areas: health and counseling services; personal health promotions and community well-being; working with complex student and parent issues; overseeing the university’s administrator-on-call and counselor-on-call system; and advising the Student Government Association. She also coordinates student withdrawals and serves as parent liaison for student life.
As assistant vice president of student life, Patterson will also serve on the university appeals committee and hear appeals from Greek organization governing boards; serve as the university’s 504 disabilities officer; provide leadership for alcohol education and initiatives; provide training for event registration and risk management areas; serve on the academic standing committee; and represent the Division of Student Life at Parents Council and Institutional Advancement programs.
Patterson came to Elon as assistant dean of students in 1986, after serving four years in the student life office at the North Carolina School of the Arts. During her tenure, she has been instrumental in the development of the university’s administrator-on-call and counselor-on-call systems; served as co-chair of the Sexual Assault and Gender Issues Advisory Board; and collaborated with colleagues across the university on a variety of projects, including the Academic Summit, Ethics and Technology Committee and the Academic Challenge Steering Committee. She has also served on the Academic Council as the Academic Support Staff Representative. In 2002, she was recognized as the Administrative Staff Member of the Year at Elon.
Patterson received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from North Carolina State University and her master’s of education degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has completed her coursework and preliminary examinations for a doctorate in psychology, and will complete her dissertation and all degree requirements within the next year.
In addition to her work at Elon, Patterson is involved in the local community. She is a member of the Middle School Task Force, a volunteer with the Alamance-Burlington School System, a graduate of Leadership Alamance, and a coordinator for the American Heart Association Heart Walk. She is also a volunteer tennis coach at Western Alamance Middle School. She has been active in professional organizations, serving as president of the North Carolina Association of Women in Education, president of the North Carolina Higher Education Addiction Prevention Professionals, and North Carolina Recruitment and Orientation Chairperson for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.