After eight and a half years at Saint Louis University and nearly a year as the director of the office of Student Life, Shawn Swinigan will be leaving SLU, effective Jan. 28. He cited the need to spend more time with his family as the main reason for his departure.

"I love the people [at SLU]," Swinigan said, "but I think it's time for a change."

In his time at the school, since July 1997, Swinigan has served as a residence hall coordinator, judicial affairs officer, coordinator for student leadership and director of the Department of Housing and Residence Life. He took over as the head of student life last March.

He said the fact that student life acts as an interface between administrators and students means its workers must accommodate two different schedules.

"It's going to be taxing," he said. "Your administrative work gets done when everyone else is here and student work gets done when students are out of school. To balance it is always a challenge."

Phil Lyons, who headed student life for more than a decade before Swinigan and is now the assistant vice president for student development, said he sympathizes with Swinigan's decision.

"I truly understand," Lyons said. "Shawn took a look at [his life] and decided his family is a priority."

Lyons said that he also considered leaving the position many times during his tenure, especially when it was keeping him at school at least two nights a week and about a third of the weekends throughout the year.

"It's indescribably gratifying work, but the hours that you end up putting in, in times when school is in session-specifically the early fall months and early spring months-can weigh pretty heavy on spending time with your family," Lyons said.

While the burden placed on student life leaders is clearly great, neither Swinigan nor Lyons went so far as to say it was necessarily enough that another position needed to be created.

"We all make a choice to work here," Swinigan said, "and I think the sacrifice equals the reward-being able to work with students and watch them grow and have those 'Ah-ha!' moments over their four years. I'm sure that's why most of my colleagues do what they do."

Lyons said that when he joined student life, in the spring of 1992, it was run by only a director, two assistants and a secretary, but there were no apartments and only four residence halls on campus.

"We did fine, but there wasn't much of a demand for student activity on campus then," Lyons said. "Saint Louis U. was truly a commuter campus."

Campus living, Lyons estimated, has more than doubled over the last decade, from 1,500 to 3,600.

"Students want something all the time, when they're available, to do on campus," Lyons said. "What drives the people in that office is the student with a great idea for an activity, and we're not going to say no to that."

Swinigan said he feels that the department's resources need to be applied strategically, where students demand them, but student life should not simply hire new workers for the sake of bulking up its staff.

Lyons, who oversees student life, said he has no plans to appoint an interim director in Swinigan's absence. He is currently forming a search committee of five students and five staff members that will interview candidates in March and announce a new director by May.

"[Swinigan has] had a long and very rewarding career at SLU," Lyons said. "The University's a much better place because of his work."