The Division of Student Affairs selected Hemlata Jhaveri, who currently serves as director of administrative services for the Division of Housing and Food Service, to be executive director of DHFS.

Jhaveri will take over for Floyd Hoelting, who is retiring after serving 20 years as executive director. Jhaveri will take up her post June 1, according to Tom Dison, who oversees housing and food services as senior associate vice president.  

“What stood out [about Hemlata] was her spirit of collaboration that she’s already demonstrated her past five years on campus,” Dison said. “When I talked to students, time after time they were very high on her. I think she’s got a very real commitment to both student and staff success.”

Jhaveri was hired after a months-long process that included a national search, a screening committee and extensive input from administration, student-body representatives and faculty, according to Dison.

For the 2014–2015 school year, the the University was unable to accommodate 2,380 of the 9,743 students who applied for housing, according to Alison Kothe, communications and marketing coordinator for DHFS.

Jhaveri said meeting student demands for housing is one of her top priorities, along with addressing diversity issues on campus.

“The first task will be to talk to students and get their feedback [on housing and food],” said Jhaveri. “Balancing the demand of what students want will be crucial, especially because the student population changes.”

About 63 percent of on-campus student residents are first-time students, according to Jhaveri.

“Housing and food plays such an important role in connecting students to the University,” Jhaveri said.