Rick Rose deals with a lot of thorns, but the assistant vice president of student affairs is blooming with advice.

“I love to help someone who’s stressed figure out what to do that will get them through a tough time — that’s neat,” Rose said.

Rose’s schedule is booked solid every week, every day.

Some of his many responsibilities include phoning faculty members about student issues, writing letters on behalf of students who are undergoing a crisis, talking to a student whose wallet was stolen and attending meetings with the Department of Counseling.

Rose’s assistant, Linda Hedge, said Rose is the best person she has ever worked with.

“He will bend over backwards to help students if he can,” she said.

Rose spends some days visiting students in hospitals, talking with families who have lost loved ones and attending student funerals on behalf of the University.

Rose said in his first year on the job, in spring 2000, there were 11 student deaths in eight weeks.

“It can be painful and hard,” Rose said, “but everything rewarding is.”

He said he gets through some of the more difficult times by trying to have some fun in the office.

“We get along great around here,” Rose said.

Rose’s office shelves are filled with many quirky gifts from colleagues, such as happy and sad faced dolls and the book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”

There also is some shell art (a gag gift, he explained) and many play posters.

The theater once was a large part of Rose’s life, and he still enjoys it when he gets the time.

Rose, originally from Anna Maria Island in southern Florida, received his bachelor’s degree in English and his master’s degree in theater from Florida State University.

In 1970, Rose moved to Gainesville College to teach, where he also did set design and stage building.

He came to the University in 1982 to get his doctoral degree, and has been here ever since.

Over the years, Rose has continued to be actively involved on the board of Town and Gown Theatre, where he once taught acting classes and performed in several plays with his wife, Janice.

Although Rose said he loves the theater, he said he will remain at the University until he retires.

“I really feel blessed to find myself working with people, for people who are just so good at what they do and fun to be around,” Rose said.

Lauren Petrella, a sophomore from Tucker, said she remembers working with Rose last year.

“You feel like he is really listening to you, which is hard to come by in administrative people today,” she said.

Students who need to withdraw from a class, receive absence verification or are in a crisis, can find Student Affairs in the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building on North Campus.

“I feel very privileged to be the one to represent The University of Georgia,” Rose said. “This is my home.”