Paulos Yohannes, Dean of Sciences at Georgia Perimeter College (GPC), gave his Vice Provost ‘vision’ presentation in Centennial Auditorium at Georgia State on Oct. 21.
Yohannes’ presentation included his focus on enrollment, securing exemplary faculty and staff, and smoothing the consolidation for students and staff under his leadership.
“If I get this position, I will keep the experts already in place to help increase enrollment,” he said. “If you keep the quality of education as high as possible, students will come.”
Georgia State Provost Dr. Risa Palm announced the search for the first provost and dean of Perimeter College on Sept. 9. This position will be the primary executive office for academic, administrative, research and service functions of Perimeter College, according to a Georgia State and Georgia Perimeter College news release.
Other areas of focus Yohannes mentioned are equipping all classrooms and labs with state of the art equipment.
“We have to ensure each students are getting the best out of anything they do on every campus,” he said.
Xiomara Chinn, Georgia State English major, approves of the position as long it’s not
“more problematic than official” to the students and staff.
“It’d be fine, as long as this provost position is beneficial,” she said. “Especially because of the multiple chains of command because students have to go through with staff, and the staff [Chinn has seen] are already frustrated with their chains of command because students are frustrated.”
Peter Lyons, the first provost candidate, made his presentation on Oct. 14, according to Rae Borden, Executive Specialist to the Provost at Georgia State.
Recommendations from the search committee will be made to President Becker by late October, according to the news release.
Yohannes believes he “has the assets” to bring to the Georgia State-Georgia Perimeter consolidation as the new provost, citing his background of teaching graduate and undergraduate level.
“I’ve already put my foot in [Georgia State] while working with the consolidation efforts. I know how to work with faculty, and I think whenever you make change, you can have great ideas,” he said
Daniel Parro, Georgia State junior film major, said he was largely uninformed about the candidacy, but thinks the Vice Provost and Dean should be able to keep “the same feel” despite the consolidation.
“I think one of the main issues is to make the consolidation a smooth transaction, so everyone that comes over will know the ropes as soon as possible,” he said.
Parro drew on his Freshman Learning Community experiences at Georgia State, and offered a similar way to help ease the transition for GPC students and staff.
“It’s almost like being a freshman or a transfer coming over from another school [for GPC students] for new students and teachers,” he said. “They could incorporate a program for them where they’re all in same group to help them adapt.”
