By Aaron West

LaToya Hill and UT go way back – she earned both her bachelor’s degree in psychology and doctorate in education administration here at the
University.

LaToya Hill, Ph.D., who oversees Student Emergency Services on campus, works at her desk last week. Hill earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and doctorate in education administration at the University. Photo by Lara Haase.

Hill is now the assistant dean of students for Student Emergency Services, a program that exists to help students who are dealing with crises. She has been involved with Student Emergency Services since it began in 2005, and because of the relationships she has built with students and other departments on campus, the program has become an effective resource that represents what she calls the heart of campus.

“There is a passion that you have when you’re working with college students, and you can see their growth and development,” Hill said. “They keep you alive. The energy is there. It keeps you young. I learn so much from college students every year. Every class is different, every situation is different.”

Hill said dedication to service is what Student Emergency Services is all about. If students have a problem — anything from financial issues to illness to safety concerns — they can call the emergency services office and Hill and her colleagues will do their best to connect them to helpful resources.

“It’s really about having a passion to help those in distress and to sort of perform psychological first aid,” she said. “A lot of times people are in a crisis when they see us, and we try to calm them down and provide them with as much information and as many resources as we can, so that we can be that bridge from crisis to commencement.”

Students who have run into financial difficulties can apply for a grant from Student Emergency Services to help them get by. If students have to miss class because of illness or injury, the office will contact professors and inform them of what’s happened.  The Behavior Concerns Advice Line, which started in 2007 as part of Student Emergency Services, serves as a way for students and faculty to anonymously voice safety concerns. Student Emergency Services will then route those concerns to the appropriate department. Because so much of what the office does lies in its connections to resources, its relationships with the departments it works with are extremely important, Hill said.

“I learned that relationships can make or break individuals getting things done,” she said. “I have great relationships on this campus. I can call up somebody and say, ‘I have students in distress. I need your help in helping make this happen. Can you help me?’ Every time people have said, ‘Sure, we can help you.’ I’m not in it by myself.”

The Student Emergency Services office makes UT seem a little bit smaller to students who might believe the school is too large to be helpful.

“We do have a heart here,” Hill said. “That’s part of what I oversee — the big heart of UT. There are lots of different entities that represent the heart, but I know that we represent the fact that UT does care. We represent the human side of UT.”

For more information on Student Emergency Services, visit deanofstudents.utexas.edu/emergency or call 512-471-5017.