It was a chilly, rainy day, but the atmosphere within President Steven DiSalvo’s office was nothing less than warm and inviting as The Crier sat down with him for an in-depth interview about his first year at Saint Anselm College.

“I thought it was a great first year,” President DiSalvo said when asked about his first fourteen months at Saint Anselm College. “I think we are doing a very good job both inside and outside of the classroom.”

President DiSalvo cites his prior experience as president of Marian as a great help in knowing what is expected on campus, and the Anselmian welcome he received from the monks, faculty and students made the transition even easier.

“For the monks, this was a major change, having a layperson as president of the college,” he said. “They embraced me with open arms. People [here] are genuine. We all care about the student experience.”

The most memorable moment for President DiSalvo was his inauguration; although he felt that he and the monks were on the same page from his first interview in April 2013, the inauguration made his layman presidency official.

“The symbolism of taking off my doctoral robe and donning the colors of Saint Anselm—I think that symbolized the transition, my accepting of this challenge,” he shared. “It was a spiritual moment for me, because it was the Abbot who put the chain of office around my neck. It was a moment that I’ll never forget.”

At this point, President DiSalvo made a point to turn the conversation away from himself in order to focus on the needs of the Saint Anselm community.

“Are we doing our best to serve our students,” he wondered aloud.

It is his mantra, a phrase that can be used to cut through the noise of all the going-ons and focus on his task as president.

“I thought that this was a place that was doing great work,” he named as his first impression of the college. “It just needed to celebrate it a little louder, so people could hear the stories. We could build the brand and reputation of the school, and we could attract students from greater distances.”

Last fall, he began two major campaigns to accomplish these goals, including a heavy focus on recruiting in the New York metro area, where two additional admissions counselors are now working to build relationships with students and high school guidance counselors.

Full results of this branding push are still years away from being realized, but there has been an uptick in applications from that area.

“I was just at Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden, Connecticut,” he said. “They’re excited to learn more about what’s happening at Saint A’s.”

President DiSalvo expects to see some of their students at the college’s open houses this year.

One of the strengths that President DiSalvo brought to Saint Anselm was his background in fundraising, which he has put to work with a capital campaign that is currently going “extremely well.”

The college can expect an update from the leadership phase within the next year, and the public phase will commence shortly after.

As the conversation flowed, President DiSalvo told of plans to thrust the NHIOP into the national spotlight (beginning with a new partnership with Bloomberg and breaking into political polling), as well as his appreciation to Donald Trump for his spring visit.

“[Trump] gave us some very honest insights about what he thinks about the world of business and politics,” he shared. “And he came up on a snowy winter day. He made sure to spend an adequate amount of time with our guests.”

President DiSalvo also elaborated upon his vision to create a bigger student center.

“We don’t have adequate space for student organizations, campus ministry, and the Meelia Center,” he explained.

And don’t forget his crash course in social media.

“They taught me how to Tweet,” he said with a large smile. “I have 690 [followers] as of last night.”

President DiSalvo continued by saying that Twitter has played a large part in reaching out to those off campus.

“It’s fun for me to read some of the comments and the tweets back from the community,” he shared.

President DiSalvo also praised the new curriculum for the balance it brings to the liberal arts education Saint Anselm offers, going on to posit that the right curriculum has to have the right mix, sequence and complement of courses.

“Now that we have Conversatio and a core that is well-balanced, it accomplishes all those things,” he explained.

As a parent of three young men, President DiSalvo said he knows that a reasonable credit load that allows for a change of majors is important.

Despite the switch from five to four courses a semester, President DiSalvo was quick to point out that number of credit hours remains the same.

The new curriculum also brings students from different majors together in the core courses.

Whether they work together in a group or just take an interest in each other, the clustering “foster[s] community.”

One of the most important things in any community is communication, and once again the conversation arrived at the President’s mantra.

“I always think we can improve,” he shared. “Sometimes it’s in ways that we don’t anticipate, and that’s why it’s really important for me—for others—to spend time with students and ask these questions.”

One of those unanticipated changes came in the form of leaving the library open later on Friday nights.

President DiSalvo said that it wasn’t something he ever would have thought of, but it made a big difference in the lives of the students.

And it’s not just current students that Dr. DiSalvo wants to pay attention to, specifically citing some blemishes on the campus grounds that composed the tour routes for prospective studeent applicants.

“I said, ‘that’s the route the tour group is taking. That’s the impression that they’re giving of the college: that we don’t pay attention to the detail.’ So I wanted to make sure we could fix the little things.”

As time continues to pass, President DiSalvo has vowed to keep on celebrating the stories of Anselmians and improving their experience.

“For lack of a better word, the students are our customers,” he said. “We need to stay focused on our customer’s needs. I want to make sure that whatever it is—living environments, dining services, academic programs—that we listen to our students, and that we make the student experience better.”