Dr. Marc H. Shook, Assistant Dean of Students for The University of Texas at Austin overseeing Student Judicial Services, has been named Associate Provost and Dean of Student Affairs at LaGrange College.

Provost David Garrison said he is extremely pleased to be welcoming Dr. Shook to the campus.

“Marc will bring energy, creativity and a mission-driven commitment to his work with all aspects of student affairs,” Garrison said. “He understands the importance of connecting the learning experience of college with the living experience. I’m looking forward to a great working relationship and to exciting new ideas for students and faculty.”

The provost said there were more than 150 applicants for the job, and the college was aided in the process by the Myers-McRae Search Firm.

Dr. Shook has a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; a law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa; and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religious studies with a minor in English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated magna cum laude. He also participated in study abroad programs at University College and Pembroke College of Oxford University in England.

With more than 10 years of experience in student affairs administration, Dr. Shook served as Director of the University of Alabama’s Blackburn Institute, one of the premier student leadership development organizations in the country; in several doctoral assistantships at the University of Virginia; and as Assistant Dean of Students for Greek and Residence Life at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C.

A regular consultant and conference presenter in the areas of student affairs staff management and legal issues, he also holds board positions with both the Association for Student Conduct Administration as well as NASPA Region III and is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. He previously served on the editorial board for The College Student Affairs Journal.  His first book, “Students Disciplining Peers,” was published in 2011.  

Dr. Shook received the Bobby E. Leach Award for significant contribution to the development of multicultural relations on campus from the Southern Association for College Student Affairs, the Annette Gibbs Research and Publication Award from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, and the New Professional of the Year Award from the South Carolina College Personnel Association.  

He said he is excited to begin his “dream job” here in LaGrange.

“I’ve always wanted to be the chief student affairs officer at a small, religiously affiliated liberal arts institution,” he said. “It has been my intention since leaving my first professional student affairs position at Presbyterian College to return to this kind of learning environment.”

Although he supports the mission of public universities, Dr. Shook said he has missed the ability to speak with students about matters of faith.

“These things are encouraged by the very mission of institutions like LaGrange College,” he said. “And the opportunity to raise our children in the Christian environment fostered by the college is most appealing to me and my wife.”

Dr. Shook is married to Jennifer Tibbitts Shook of Marietta, Ga., and they have a 2-year-old daughter, Lily-Grace Shook.  The couple is expecting the birth of their first son in early April.

A native of Montgomery, Ala., Dr. Shook said he is excited to be returning to the area.

“The opportunity to be this close to home is just an added bonus.”