Victor J. Arcelus joined Connecticut College in July 2013. He is charged with enhancing and extending the personal and intellectual development of the College's diverse student body. A specialist in holistic learning, Arcelus oversees residential education and living, student engagement and leadership education, health and counseling services, campus safety, sexual violence prevention and advocacy, student wellness and health education, new student orientation, and the College’s student conduct process.
Victor came to Connecticut College from Gettysburg College, where he was assistant dean of college life and director of residence life since 2008. Prior to holding that position, he was the director of student rights and responsibilities, overseeing all aspects of the student conduct system, and the associate director of residential life. While holding those two posts he also served as the international student advisor. Before Gettysburg, Victor worked in residence life at Bucknell University. Victor earned a doctorate in higher education from Pennsylvania State University, with anthropology as his area of concentration. His dissertation is an ethnographic study of how faculty and student affairs staff perceive their own and each other's roles as educators and how these perceptions influence the potential for developing a learning-centered campus. Victor writes and presents on a variety of topics including academic and student affairs collaboration, intellectual climate, learning centeredness, and co-curricular learning goal development.