Assistant Director of Student Engagement Mike Keyser leaves Chapman

Former head of Fitness and Recreation Mike Keyser recently left Chapman in pursuit of another job opportunity. Panther Archives

Chapman’s Student Engagement team is going through a rollercoaster of changes, and the recent resignation of Mike Keyser which followed Shishei Tsang’s departure has completely changed the team’s goals and direction moving forward. Keyser, the former assistant director of Student Engagement and director of Fitness and Recreation Services officially left Chapman on Sept. 3, and the Civic Engagement Initiatives staff has been making adjustments to fill the void left behind.

Director of Student Engagement Justin Koppelman spoke about the recent changes made to the department. One of the first steps they took was increasing the hours of a Fitness and Recreation staff member Sophia Farchione from 19 to 29 hours because of her experience supervising the team. She currently serves as Graduate Assistant for Fitness and Recreation Services

Koppelman also spoke about the mentorship that Farchione is receiving and said that Farchione is not working during all of the operating hours of the Fitness and Recreation centers. He and program coordinator Negeen Dagher are stepping up in their roles to supplement some of this work as well.

“(We redirected) who would be her support from the professional staff level, and that’s primarily become Negeen,” Koppelman said. “Negeen and I (hope) to serve as on-call troubleshooters if things arise when Sophia is not working.”

There were several obstacles that Koppelman and the Civic Engagement Initiatives team faced, one being the need for the same experience that Keyser brought to the position. Keyser was primarily responsible for all the operations under Fitness and Recreation Services, and so there was a learning curve for Koppelman and the team to get acclimated. Another issue that the team continues to face is staffing the facilities.

“I think a challenge for [running fitness and recreation] was getting me and Negeen up to speed on the systems that we use to manage the facility,” Koppelman said. “We are also currently understaffed in terms of student staff with [all] the fitness centers, so with a pro-staff being out and being understaffed at the student staff level as well, we’ve had to strategize as best we can to keep the fitness centers open as much as possible.”

Mike Keyser first began working at Chapman back in June 2011 as Student Union Program Coordinator, then proceeded to work as Assistant Director of Student Engagement from 2014-2018, and finally Associate Director of Student Engagement from 2019 until this year. He also was an adjunct faculty lecturer in Leadership Studies from 2017 to 2021. Keyser grew the team from 40 to 80 people, and he oversaw the operations and staff for Fitness and Recreation Services. One of his most recent projects was constructing a new fitness center in the basement of Henley Hall in 2019.

Keyser said his choice to move on from Chapman is fueled by his desire to pursue new opportunities in his career and take on a new job.

“One of things I did at Chapman was training and leadership development, and I taught a class also at Chapman — Leadership 101 — as part of the lead minor program; I did that for four years,” Keyser said. “I think that opened my eyes to a bigger interest of mine which was leadership development and employee engagement. So, because of that I pursued a new path.”

Keyser is currently doing learning and development for an architecture company in Irvine, California. But Keyser said that it wasn’t an easy decision. 

“I was lucky to have very close friendships with the people I worked with. I (found) a lot of meaning from the work I did at Chapman,” Keyser said. “So, leaving Chapman wasn’t just leaving a job, it was much bigger than that. It was a very difficult call, and I only wanted to leave for the right opportunity.”

Although it is a learning process for the Student Engagement team, Koppelman feels that his team has done well with the changes in Fitness and Recreation operations, but now there needs to be a focus on readjusting team chemistry. 

“We had our first full-time, pro staff meeting on Monday, and it’s noticeable (that there are) less people at the table,” Koppelman said. “So, I think it still remains to be seen what our team dynamic (will) be like with Mike and Shishei gone, since their departures (are) so recent, but I think in terms of the operations, we’re doing okay managing what we can.”

Overall, some of the experiences that stood out to Keyser in his time at Chapman were helping to open the Henley Fitness Center and building the University Program Board in 2011. Another important highlight for him was the ways in which he connected with students and helped them grow. 

“All the students I worked with, I’m in touch with a lot of them, and I’m proud of them,” Keyser said. “They went to law school, they went on to pursue careers, they got married. Maybe I was a little part of helping them develop along the way.”