The Ithaca College Campus Activities Director stressed her ability to connect with students when interviewing for the office of NIU Student Affairs associate vice president Tuesday.

Sharon Policello, the director of campus activities and orientation in Ithaca, New York, spoke at an open meeting for students in Lowden Hall.

One graduate student attended the meeting.

Policello said she had a wide range of interests and this helped her be more comfortable with students. She also said her sense of humor and her openness were other qualities that helped her in her profession.

Policello said she had never been to DeKalb until Monday and does not have a definite impression of the campus.

But she said she attended school in Indiana and Wisconsin and is familiar with the Midwest.

“DeKalb looks pretty much like a typical Illinois town,” she said.

Policello said there were conflicts between the Reserve Officers Training Corps and gay and lesbian students at Ithaca College similar to NIU’s conflicts.

She said she was impressed at the maturity of the discussion there, and hopes that if she comes to NIU she would see the same level of student interaction here.

Policello said she enjoys living in New York, but sees the opportunity to work as associate vice president of student affairs here as a logical step in her career. Policello’s family still lives in the Midwest, and that is an added incentive to come to NIU, she said.

Among her accomplishments at Ithaca College was an increase in the freshman class summer program’s student attendance from 75 to 93 percent.

She also ran a summer parent orientation serving about 3,500 parents each year.

Policello’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in history and secondary education from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, a master’s in student personnel administration and a doctorate in higher education administration at Indiana University.