This fall CMU welcomed new Student Life Advisor Mitch Karsten to the team.

Karstens has direct supervision of ASG, CAB, PAC, CDB, all of the clubs, the Criterion, KMSA, the Outdoor Program, club sports, and intramurals. “Day to day, I work with all of those organizations,” Karstens said. “I meet with all of them and help guide them.”

Karstens has earned three degrees from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. His first degree was a B.A. in History, then a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, and finally a Master’s in Student Affairs and Higher Education.

Another part of Karsten’s seemingly endless job description as Student Life Advisor is the 24 separate budgets he must balance in order for the various clubs and organizations to move forward financially. “No, I enjoy budgets actually,” Karsten said when asked how often he uses the stress ball in his office while balancing budgets.

There are some new changes coming to CMU for students to get excited about Karstens said.

“I think the biggest one is making Student Life as open and receptive as possible to all students,” Karstens said. “We should have some kind of student organization or club for every student on campus.”

Karstens was instrumental in orchestrating the 3OH!3 concert two weeks ago, working long hours with ASG.

“A lot of times students think of a concert and think oh that’s too big of an event, we can’t get that done,” Karstens said. “We can do just about anything. I think there’s very few absolute no’s in the world.”

Over the coming semesters he expects students to start noticing the changes around campus.

“I think we’re going to see a big growth in the student life area, in the number of programs, the number of activities, the number of people participating,” Karstens said. “CMU has a great foundation, and there are just a few things that we can work on to make sure every student knows what’s going on.”