Sarah Hansen

Sarah Hansen, Vice President for Student Life at the University of Iowa, has spent over 25 years in Student Affairs, championing initiatives that enrich the student experience. In today’s conversation, Sarah sat down with Jack Eagle, Co-Host of The Interview, to talk about creating a sense of belonging on a campus of over 30,000 students, fostering innovative approaches to mental health and wellbeing, and how the University of Iowa amplifies the student voice in shaping programs and policies.  Sarah reflects on impactful moments in her career and shares the strategies that have helped her team support academic success through holistic student life programs.

Sarah’s Journey

Jack: Can we start with an introduction to your current role and institution?

I’m Sarah Hansen, the Vice President for Student Life at the University of Iowa. I’ve been working in Student Affairs and Higher Education (HE) for my entire career – about 25 years now. At Iowa, Student Life encompasses essentially everything outside the classroom that supports students in succeeding academically. That includes residence halls, recreation services, and all the mental health and wellbeing supports, like counseling and student health.

We have around 25,000 undergraduate students, with incoming classes of about 5,000. We’re an AAU institution, which means we’re a Research 1 university. What makes us unique is that we’re both a research powerhouse and widely accessible. By state mandate, we accept a large percentage of college-ready students – around 85% of applicants. Despite this, we’ve achieved an impressive retention rate of 90.4%, meeting our five-year strategic goal in just three years. Among AAU schools, only seven accept 80% or more of their college-ready applicants, and of those, just three have a 90% retention rate. We’re proud to be one of those three.

I think part of our success is that, while we’re a large university, we work hard to make it feel smaller for our students. We create opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to connect in meaningful ways.

‍Jack: How do you go about creating a sense of belonging on such a large campus?

It starts from the moment students arrive on campus. Like many schools, we have welcome activities, but one of our signature programs is called On Iowa! It’s been running for about 15 years. First-year students arrive about a week early and are placed in smaller groups. This gives them the chance to navigate campus without the added pressure of older students being around. During this week, nearly 700 faculty and staff volunteer to help students feel welcome.

We also create smaller communities through initiatives like Living Learning Communities and first-year seminars. One program I’m especially proud of is First Gen Hawks. Around one in five of our students are the first in their family to go to college, and this program helps them navigate the university with extra academic support, peer mentoring, and a sense of community. Our data shows that these students’ success measures surpass those of first-gen students overall at Iowa.

Another key factor is relationship-rich practices. For example, we’ve found that student employment is a high-impact practice. In the Division of Student Life alone, we employ about 2,000 students annually. We make sure these jobs aren’t just transactional. Students have mentoring conversations with their supervisors at least twice a semester, discussing how their work connects to what they’re learning in class and how their experiences prepare them for the future. These relationships with caring adults make a big difference in creating a sense of belonging.

Jack: How do you grab students’ attention on non-academic topics when there are so many things competing for their focus?

We’ve recently launched a mobile app designed with a lot of student input. The goal was to go beyond just a collection of web pages. Students told us they wanted actionable components. For example, if they’re looking at recreation services, they don’t just want to see information – they want to be able to sign up for a class or intramurals directly. Similarly, for student health, they want to book appointments through the app.

Involving students in the design process was critical, and we’re continuing to phase in new features. I’ve been here 25 years, so I know I’m not the best person to decide what students want for recreation or social activities. We rely heavily on student employees in our marketing and social media teams to keep our work relevant. Their input ensures our communication resonates with students.

Tailored feedback and the ability to filter information are also key. Students want control over what they receive, and we’re working on meeting that need.

Jack: You mentioned something that’s come up a few times for us – using the student voice and adopting a more peer-led approach. Can you tell me more about that?

A simple but powerful example is our Instagram reels. We have a couple of students who produce them, focusing on questions they have or topics that feel relevant at the moment. For example, during stressful periods, they might create content about mental health resources, showing their own experiences navigating those resources. It’s much more effective than us just talking at students.

We also involve students through advisory boards and direct feedback. One initiative I’ve really appreciated is our president’s regular lunches and dinners with students. There’s no set agenda – it’s just an opportunity to hear about their experiences, why they chose Iowa, and what we could do better. It’s not just the most involved students attending; it could be a first-year student the president meets on campus. The feedback we get is invaluable, and we try to approach these conversations with a mindset of improvement, not defensiveness.

Jack: Mental wellbeing is a huge topic for universities right now. What resources have you been sharing with students?

We’ve been rethinking how we conceptualize mental health and wellbeing. As a culture, we’ve started to problematize distress – but feeling upset or distressed is a normal part of being human. It doesn’t always mean something is wrong or requires clinical intervention. We’ve done a lot of work to help students understand this and explore the many ways they can support their wellbeing – whether that’s through counseling, recreation, yoga, mindfulness, or spending time in nature.

One resource we’ve created is the Wellbeing at Iowa website. It’s a comprehensive tool that allows students, faculty, and staff to filter opportunities based on their preferences – whether they want something in a group or alone, virtual or in-person, etc. We also offer a 24/7 phone, text, and chat line staffed by people who understand the unique needs of our Hawkeyes. Unsurprisingly, students overwhelmingly prefer the text option!

Another area we’re focused on is diversifying response options. Not every student needs an individual counseling session, so we’re building systems to address lower-level needs earlier, reserving counseling for those who need it most. The goal is to ensure students can get the type of help they want, when they need it, in the mode they prefer.

Jack: Is there a specific memory or day in your career that stands out to you?

The death of George Floyd was a pivotal moment. I was still new in my role as Vice President for Student Life, and the campus leadership was discussing how to respond. Some institutions made immediate, sweeping decisions, like cutting ties with police. We took a more measured approach, which drew criticism at the time but allowed us to engage the entire community in finding solutions.

I stepped forward to lead our campus through a year-long process called Reimagining Campus Safety. This involved listening to students, faculty, and staff to develop recommendations. Five years later, we’re still implementing those changes. The process led to significant shifts in how we approach law enforcement, mental health support, and overall campus safety. It wasn’t a quick fix, but I’m proud of the substantive, community-driven changes we’ve made. It’s a reminder that meaningful progress takes time and collaboration.