Correction appended; see bottomFour key Brandeis administrators, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French, will depart this academic year. Personnel changes have also taken place at the Department of Community Living, formerly known as the Department of Residence Life, over the summer as part of a reorganization effort intended to make up for departed staff members.

Along with French, other administrators who are leaving include Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva, Senior Vice President for Communications Lorna Miles and Vice President of Financial Affairs Maureen Murphy. Activities Advisor in the Department of Student Activities Becca Lehrhoff and Operations Specialist in the Department of Student Activities Mark Metevier left the University March 20.

According to Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer, the DCL's new name emphasizes that its directors "will look at residence life on this campus not about where people live, but more about how people live." Staff changes in the DCL are part of the Department's efforts to involve other University organizations in its programming.

Financial restraints prevented the University from hiring replacements after three staff members in the DCL, including Rich deCapua, Kate d'Urso and Nicole Fadavi left Brandeis approximately one year ago. Instead, the University chose to reorganize its staff.

Jeremy Leiferman, formerly the co-director of ResLife, became the department's senior director; Michelle O'Malley, formerly director of orientation and first-year programs, became the director for the first-year and sophomore classes; and Erika LaMarre, formerly the director of student development and conduct, became the director for the junior and senior year classes. Sarah Richardson, who previously served as one of the activities advisors in the Department of Student Activities, replaced Metevier. The department also appointed Dean Gendron as director of the newly renamed Office of Student Rights and Community Standards.

The University's financial office will see the one of the most significant personnel changes among the offices and departments that will undergo reorganization, as French ends his 12-year career in Brandeis' financial office at the end of this calendar year.

Jeff Apfel, formerly the vice president for administration and finance at Rutgers University, will replace French as EVP/COO in October; until then, he will serve as vice president of financial affairs.

While French will officially retire in October, he will remain here through December as an adviser to Apfel and University President Jehuda Reinharz. "Every day I've been here has been a privilege," French said in an interview with the Justice. "This is just a great institution."

Murphy will leave Brandeis Aug. 31 after 12 years at Brandeis to become an associate vice chancellor and chief financial officer at New York University's new institution in Abu Dhabi, Dubai. "I'm very excited about this opportunity, and Brandeis has prepared me well," she said in an interview with the Justice.

The Office of Admissions will undergo similar transitions this year; Villanueva left Brandeis July 1 and is now the dean of admissions at the University of Richmond. According to Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy, the University will enlist a search firm in February to find a replacement and plans to hire a new dean by July 1, 2010. Until July 1, Eddy will assume Villanueva's responsibilities within the administration.

"The biggest accomplishment [Villanueva] made was in diversity issues for incoming classes," Eddy said of Villanueva's successful efforts to increase campus diversity throughout his four years at Brandeis.

Miles left Brandeis in the beginning of July to work at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The selection process for the position of senior vice president of communications is in preliminary stages and will continue through September, according to French.

"[Miles had] an incredible amount of energy and time devoted to her job," said Dennis Nealon, executive director of media and public affairs, who worked closely with Miles.

Villanueva and Miles could not be reached despite repeated requests for comment.

Within the DCL, LaMarre will be responsible for supervising areas on campus where juniors and seniors live and working with campus offices that offer services to benefit them. LaMarre said she plans to help juniors and seniors by working with alumni as well as other Brandeis departments and organizations, including Academic Services, the Hiatt Career Center and the Study Abroad office.

DCL living is a "quality-of-life experience and an outside-the-classroom curriculum," LaMarre wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

O'Malley will supervise areas where underclassmen live and create new programming for all classes. O'Malley said she expects to collaborate with departments like the Intercultural Center, Student Activities, orientation committees and the Department of Athletics.

According to Sawyer, this year Gendron will create a campuswide committee to review the student judicial process and improve the Bill of Rights.

"We [the Department of Community Living] hope that we are evolving with students as they progress through the University and provide them what they need and want," Leiferman said.

Correction: The original article provided the incorrect location of New York University's new institution. It is in Abu Dhabi, not Abu Ghraib.