Corey Benson has taken on added responsibilities at University of Texas Permian Basin.
He was named Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the University of Texas Permian Basin earlier this summer. Beginning his fifth year at UTPB, Benson was hired as associate dean of students in September 2018 and promoted to dean of students in July 2020.
In this expanded role, Benson oversees several student services areas including the Office of the Dean of Students, Student Conduct and Academic integrity, Student Emergency and Assistance Services, Financial Literacy/Student Money Management, the Center for Student Belonging and Inclusion, International Student Services, Military and Student Veteran Services, Former Foster Youth Programs, Student Counseling Services, Alcohol and Other Drug Programs, Center for Students in Recovery, Interpersonal and Sexual Violence Prevention, Eliminate Tobacco Use, the Bystander Intervention Program, Residence Life and Dining Services, and Student Transportation Services.
“I think the most important thing is doing the work in relationship and working with a team of experts in their own areas who really are leading the work in those functional areas,” Benson said.
The Division of Student Affairs and Leadership includes offices like advising, counseling, housing, and student life and has about 70 staff members. Benson said he directly supervises nine of those team members.
“The most important projects I have worked on are increasing access to mental health resources and student support services, Benson said. “This includes launching a CARE Team in addition to the BIT Team; launched the MySSP app, which provides access to counseling services in many languages 24-hours a day; and launched an online reporting tool for members of our community to report concerns.”
MySSP stands for My Student Support Program.
The CARE Team, or Coordinated Advocacy, Retention, and Emergency Services Team, is an interdisciplinary team that helps identify and remove barriers for students to be successful. BIT, which stands for Behavior Intervention Team, is a cross-functional team to identify and intervene with students of concern and assess for threats of violence.
Prior to UTPB, Benson served as Title IX Coordinator at University of Houston-Clear Lake, Title IX Investigator in the Office of the Dean of Students at The University of Texas at Austin, Student Development Specialist in the Office of Community Standards at The University of Texas at Arlington, and Student Development Specialist in the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion at Texas State University.
Benson, who grew up in Shepherd, earned a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a bachelor’s degree in communication from University of Houston-Clear Lake. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in higher education leadership at The University of Texas at Austin.
He has five classes left in his doctoral program. Benson expects to finish classes in the spring and defend his dissertation in fall of 2023.
“The reason I started the program was to become a stronger practitioner,” he said. “… I’m doing my dream job currently. This was the job that I wanted to do when I was an undergrad and thought about where do I want to be in life. This is the job that I had imagined.”
In college, Benson was involved in student government and was the editor of the newspaper.
“I learned a lot about student fees and student engagement. I learned how the university was funded, the types of issues that university administration … tries to solve and that was all really interesting for me. I was an orientation leader which gave me the opportunity to welcome new students and their families to campus and that’s still something that I … get to do …,” he added.
Benson said his experience as an undergraduate spurred him on to become a dean of students because of the way that student affairs professionals, and specifically the dean of students office, was able to help remove barriers for students to be successful and to help them navigate their experience so that they can graduate.
Benson views student affairs and supporting students as his life’s work.
“Higher education transforms lives and communities and it’s exciting to be part of helping students be able to access that,” he said.
After attending orientation at college, he immediately felt like he belonged and supported.
“I became lifelong friends with a staff member who coordinated new student orientation and I’m still friends with the director of student conduct from when i was an undergrad who became a mentor and a friend to this day,” Benson said.
Thinking about the connections he made with people that helped him feel like he belonged, Benson said that’s something he gets to do in his job. He also advises the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Association.
In May, Benson was elected to serve as president-elect of the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators, known as TACUSPA. He has been involved with TACUSPA for more than a decade and was the recipient of the Outstanding New Professional (2014) and Outstanding Mid-Level Professional (2017) awards from the Association. While at UTPB, Benson was also elected and served as Chair of the Texas Deans of Students Council.
Locally, Benson has volunteered with the Crisis Center of West Texas and been involved with West Texas Astronomers, an amateur astronomy club in Midland. He was recently appointed Secretary of the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross Serving the Permian Basin.
Part of his purview includes the John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute.
“My involvement with the Shepperd Leadership Institute has been in facilitating LeaderShape, which is a nationally recognized leadership development program that we facilitate in partnership with them. For instance last year, we were able to facilitate LeaderShape for high school students in MISD (Midland ISD) in addition to students on our campus,” Benson said.
He added that good things are happening at UTPB.
“I think it’s an exciting time to be a student at UTPB, and if a student ever needs help or assistance on campus and doesn’t know where to start, they can always start with us,” Benson said.
Vice President for Student Affairs and Leadership Becky Spurlock said Benson has been a strong addition to UTPB. As of Thursday, UTPB announced that Spurlock has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
“Over the last four years, he has been an exceptional advocate for student needs and issues. He seeks out community partnerships that improve the student experience on and off campus. Corey is a trusted partner across campus, too — many faculty and staff seek out Corey’s involvement in their projects because they know he will bring technical expertise but also creative ideas and a strong work ethic. Corey was recently named President-Elect of TACUSPA, a statewide organization of student affairs leaders. His election speaks to the respect he has by his colleagues from across the State of Texas. As someone who works closely with Corey every day, I know he will bring fresh ideas, passion, and commitment to his expanded role and as a result, improve the lives of students,” Spurlock said in an email.
