Meet the Staff

Rick Sawyer
Vice President for Student Affairs and
Dean of Student Life

Rick Sawyer is the senior student affairs officer for the campus. He has responsibility for the quality of undergraduate and graduate student life outside the classroom.

As Vice President, he serves as a close associate to the Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment, and directly oversees several departments in the Division of Students and Enrollment, including Community Service, Community Living, Student Activities, The Intercultural Center, Orientation, Athletics, The Chaplaincy, Health Services and the Psychological Counseling Center.

As Dean of Student Life, Sawyer is the senior advocate for students and the programs and services provided to them. Sawyer also has institutional responsibility for student judicial procedures and advises the university regarding immediate actions necessary to assure the well being of students.

Jamele Adams
Associate Dean of Student Life

Jamele Adams oversees the departments of Student Activities and Community Service, as well as the Intercultural Center and the Chaplaincy. He works with campus groups to promote and enhance opportunities to celebrate diversity in our daily lives at Brandeis. Adams develops programs and activities to support involvement in the larger community and afford Brandeis students the opportunity to practice social justice and change in the real world, in support of the lessons provided in our classrooms. In addition, he oversees the Community Prejudice Response Task Force.

Adams holds a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree from Bowling Green State University. He is also a celebrated poet.

Maggie Balch
Associate Dean of Student Life

Maggie Balch oversees the departments of Community Living, Student Rights and Community Standards, and Orientation.

Balch holds a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree from the University of Connecticut. She previously worked at Washington University in St. Louis, Indiana University and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.