Victor J. Arcelus joined Connecticut College in July 2013 as the Dean of Student Life reporting to the Dean of the College and in July 2015 was promoted to Dean of Students reporting to the President. He is charged with enhancing and extending the personal and intellectual development of the College's diverse student body.
A specialist in holistic learning, Victor provides leadership for all aspects of the student residential experience. Victor manages residential programs and services focused on student well-being, leadership development, and life skills and learning beyond the classroom. The division of student life includes staff in residential life, student engagement, athletics, student counseling services, student health services, wellbeing and health promotion, campus safety, the College’s honor code and the student conduct process. From 2020 to 2023, Victor also served as the College’s COVID-19 coordinator providing leadership for and oversight of the College’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The division of student life develops and maintains programs, policies, and services that focus on five strategic goals: supporting the well-being and safety of all students; enriching student social, athletic, and residential experience; providing co-curricular learning experiences to complement the academic program; cultivating a diverse community committed to full participation; and promoting an organizational culture committed to continual improvement and staff development.
Victor lives on campus along with other members of the division of student life who serve in an on-call capacity. The on-call staff partner with many colleagues across campus, and especially with Campus Safety, student support specialists, and Counseling Services staff to respond to student needs at all times, both during the academic year and intersessions.
Victor works in close partnership with Dean of the College and Dean of Equity and Inclusion to promote a holistic student educational experience on campus. The staff from these three divisions constitute the Student Experience Group, whose close collaboration ensures the highest quality student support.
Victor came to Connecticut College from Gettysburg College, where he was assistant dean of college life and director of residence life since 2008. Prior to holding that position, he was the director of student rights and responsibilities, overseeing all aspects of the student conduct system, and the associate director of residential life. While holding these posts he also served as the international student advisor. Before Gettysburg, Victor worked in residence life at Bucknell University. Victor earned a doctorate in higher education from Pennsylvania State University, with anthropology as his area of concentration. His dissertation is an ethnographic study of how faculty and student affairs staff perceive their own and each other's roles as educators and how these perceptions influence the potential for developing a learning-centered campus. Victor writes and presents on a variety of topics including academic and student affairs collaboration, intellectual climate, learning-centeredness, and co-curricular learning goal development. He also regularly serves on visiting teams for institutional reaccreditation and institution-coordinated external reviews.