The Dean of Students supports a central team and core areas that include Residential Education, the Graduate Life Office, the Office of Community Standards, and the Office of Accessible Education, which collectively support the lived experiences of undergraduate and graduate students. We serve as a compass for students in finding purpose, resilience, and belonging by fostering an accessible, respectful, living and learning environment through individualized student support, responsive care, and case management services.
Meet the Senior Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Students, Mona Hicks
As senior associate vice provost and dean of students, Mona leads Residential Education, the Graduate Life Office, the Office of Accessible Education, and the Office of Community Standards. She has extensive senior-level experience addressing individual student needs and responding to students in crisis. She built the Saint Louis University dean of students office from the ground up, with a centered focus on student well-being. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with students, faculty, staff and community partners, including her helping to guide students and the university community in responding to the Michael Brown shooting in nearby Ferguson in August 2014.
Mona’s experience serving as a resident associate for one of Rice University’s 11 residential colleges afforded her valuable insight into building residential communities with a focus on student agency, supporting her role here overseeing Residential Education as well as contributing to the implementation of our ResX vision.
Mona received the 2019 Donald Brennan Humanitarian Award from the Urban League of Metropolitan Saint Louis and Saint Louis University. In addition, she was named Woman of the Year by the Saint Louis University Women’s Commission in 2017. Mona currently serves on the board of NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education; she is also the Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Division director.
She holds a bachelor’s in biology from St. Edward’s University, a master’s in college student personnel from Western Illinois University, and a doctorate of education in higher education, leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University.
Dean of Students Units
Core responsibilities include designing and operationalizing the student residential experience at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including parts of the university’s vision for a reformed undergraduate residential experience, and overseeing the implementation and programmatic design for the addition of over 2,000 on-campus graduate student beds. The Dean of Students is also charged with developing policy and accountability standards to ensure that all students and communities thrive at Stanford; ensuring that student support processes are highly responsive to the diversity of our students including learner variability; maintaining standards of student and student-organization conduct; and overseeing divisional compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), state and federal laws and university policies.
We are the Graduate Life Office (GLO) and we serve the entire graduate student population at Stanford and their families. Our specialty is helping graduate students, and we are here to help you navigate the issues, challenges and complications that are an inevitable part of life. GLO deans are a source of comprehensive, impartial guidance and information related to all aspects of your life as a graduate student.
Empowering Access: Fostering an Accessible Stanford Community for Students with Disabilities. At the Office of Accessible Education (OAE), we are committed to mitigating physical and attitudinal barriers that may impede the educational journeys of students with disabilities. By working together, we can cultivate a campus environment where access is not merely an objective, but a fundamental value embraced by every member of our community.
The Stanford community strives to create meaningful change both on campus and in the world. A commitment to integrity permeates all aspects of campus life, and the Office of Community Standards supports this mission by upholding two of Stanford's foundational principles: the Fundamental Standardand the Honor Code. Together, these standards articulate the values that unite us and outline the responsibilities that attend the great privilege of being at Stanford. Every member of the Stanford community plays an integral role in espousing these ideals and sustaining our culture of excellence.
Welcome to Residential Education! Through living and learning together in the residences, students can grow in their ability to understand and negotiate difference and can prepare for the complexities of global citizenship.
Policies, Processes and Protocols
Stanford University is committed to the safety, health and well-being of the campus community. The University recognizes that students may experience situations that significantly limit their ability to function successfully or safely in their role as students. In such circumstances, students should consider requesting a leave of absence.
Need an official certification from Stanford? You’ve come to the right place. On this page you’ll find instructions for requesting your Dean’s Certification — a document often required by law schools, licensing boards, or graduate-level programs. Submit the form with your Stanford ID and recipient information, and we’ll handle the rest. Certifications are usually processed within 10 business days and sent directly to the institution.
The James W. Lyons Award for Service was established in 1981 and named in honor of the late Jim Lyons who served as Stanford's dean of student affairs from 1972-1990. This annual award recognizes and honors current students of the Stanford community for their exceptional service and contributions made through a variety of departments, teams, clubs, residences and community projects on and off-campus.
In winter quarter 2022, the Stanford Group Accountability Process (SGAP) replaced the Organization Conduct Board (OCB) as the accountability process for student groups. Facilitated by the Office of Community Standards (OCS), SGAP addresses alleged violations of university policies by student groups, which includes all voluntary student organizations, Row Houses, sports teams (both club and varsity), fraternities, and sororities (“Groups”).
Find Out More About the Stanford Group Accountability Process (SGAP)
