The eight-month search for a new director of Housing and Food Services (HFS) ended last week when Vice Provost for Student Life Eric Godfrey announced that Pam Schreiber, from Florida Gulf Coast University, would be taking the position.

Various departments on campus, including the Office of Commencement Exercises, the Counseling Center and Hall Health Primary Care Center, were notified by an e-mail sent by Godfrey stating that Schreiber would likely begin at the end of March. She plans on making one trip to Seattle later this month. HFS staff were made aware of the announcement on Thursday of last week.

“I am delighted with this outcome and along with all of you, I look forward to working with Pam over the coming years,” Godfrey wrote.

Schreiber, the director of University Housing at Florida Gulf, has over 20 years experience in higher education, from managing business operations to working in career development. While she doesn’t have very much experience working with food services, other parts of her resumé stand out, including the recent direction of a $4.7 million project on her campus to add 3,000 beds by August 2009.

As UW HFS moves toward its own 10-year, $1 billion master plan that encompasses the renovation of all current residence halls and the construction of 2,400 new beds, Schreiber’s past promises to add experience to the process.

“My interpretation of the master plan is that the University is interested in using HFS to more directly and purposefully integrate students into residential life so that [residence halls] not only welcome but contribute to student success,” said Schreiber at a stakeholders meeting Dec. 3, 2008 when she interviewed on campus.

She said that an effective method for accomplishing this goal is to move away from apartment style to suite style residence halls where students are able to have a greater sense of community.

Schreiber also supports HFS dedication to providing environmentally friendly utensils and food containers to its consumers.

“As an institution of higher education, we have an obligation and responsibility to model a few key things,” Schreiber said. “Sustainability initiatives are fantastic. They support the values of the institution.”

As director, Schreiber’s focus will be to provide residential students with unique activities in their halls that are easily recognizable as ways to fit students’ needs.

“What we want to avoid is presenting an option but not delivering on a difference,” Schreiber said. “We need to know what the intended outcome is and how to measure that effectively.”

The former HFS director, Paul Brown, was removed from office after sexual harassment accusations were made by Emily Carleton, a communications specialist in HFS. Litigation by Carleton is currently in process against the University, and Schreiber was made aware of the allegations in November when the search team sent a Seattle Times article to each of the final three candidates.

Reach reporter Heather Milligan at news@dailyuw.com.