Marion Fedrick, interim executive vice president at Albany State University in Georgia, is leading the transition team that was set in place following the announcement in October that Arthur Dunning, president of Albany State University was retiring in January. Since 2012, Fredrick as served as the vice chancellor for human resources. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia.
In addition to overseeing the presidential search, Fedrick announced that the university has formed the Student Engagement Experience task force. The new task force will focus on three areas:
1. Improving the first-year experience for new students.
2. Improving student retention and graduation rates.
3. Streamlining and improving orientation, advising, and registration procedures.
In a letter the campus community, Fedrick stated the “we look forward to working closely with our student leaders to improve the student experience at Albany State University as we continue to position the new Albany State University for long-term success.”
The task force has been charged with making recommendations to the university administration by mid-December.
I believe that Albany State is taking the appropriate steps in addressing their student persistence and completion rate challenges. I am assuming that their existing trend data can assist them in making the appropriate policy and programming decisions to improve their retention and graduation rates. The other important aspect of their work will be to imbed an assessment component to their work to examine their progress on an annual basis. Being able to dissect the various issues that are impacting their students will be very key to the institution moving forward.