TACOMA, Wash. – Following an extensive and highly competitive national search, University of Puget Sound has named Sarah Comstock vice president for student affairs and dean of students effective March 14, 2022. Comstock has served as interim vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Puget Sound since July 2021.
“We are thrilled to have Sarah step into this role,” said Puget Sound President Isiaah Crawford. “She is an innovative and collaborative student affairs leader with a distinctive record of achievement. Thoughtful and engaging, she has an accomplished student affairs background and will be a key partner in Puget Sound’s effort to offer an outstanding and integrated cocurricular program.”
Comstock holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Master of Arts degree in professional communication from University of Alaska Fairbanks and has more than 20 years of progressive experience in student affairs leadership in higher education, including residence life; counseling, health and wellness; fraternity and sorority life; intercultural engagement; student leadership; and student conduct.
“This is an extraordinary time for University of Puget Sound, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to take the helm of the Division of Student Affairs,” said Comstock. “As I continue my journey as a Logger, I look forward to building upon the outstanding work that is already being done and creating new opportunities for student affairs to support student success. I feel very fortunate to be working with talented colleagues across campus that are committed to making a difference in the lives of our students and the community at large.”
With a visionary president, a dynamic and dedicated senior leadership team, passionate students, and exceptional faculty and staff, Puget Sound is at a turning point in its 130-year history. More fully developing curricular and programmatic innovation is a cornerstone of Puget Sound’s Leadership for Changing World strategic plan, which challenges the university to be bold and forward-looking in the delivery of education and in meeting the needs of current and future generations of students. Comstock will play a critical role in the execution of the plan and ensuring the university adheres to its mission to develop students’ capacities for critical analysis, aesthetic appreciation, sound judgment, and apt expression that will sustain a lifetime of intellectual curiosity, active inquiry, and reasoned independence.
About Puget Sound
A nationally ranked residential liberal arts and sciences college in Tacoma, Wash., University of Puget Sound enrolls 2,200 undergraduate students from across the country and around the world, as well as 300 graduate students in education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and public health. A low student-faculty ratio provides Puget Sound students with personal attention from faculty members who have a strong commitment to teaching and offer 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 areas of study. Puget Sound graduates include Rhodes and Luce scholars, notables in the arts and culture, scholars and scientists, entrepreneurs and elected officials, and leaders in business and finance locally and throughout the world. A top producer of Fulbright U.S. Students, Puget Sound is the only nationally ranked independent undergraduate liberal arts college in Western Washington, and one of just five independent colleges in the Northwest granted a charter by Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society.
