易胜博官网

Provost Wayne Jones Jr. was dean of 易胜博官网鈥檚 College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS) for nine months before being named interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. Six months later, in November 2018, the position became permanent.

It鈥檚 a job Jones says he wasn鈥檛 looking for. He came to 易胜博官网 in 2017 after spending 24 years at Binghamton University in New York, most recently as professor and chair of the chemistry department. He held other leadership roles there as well, including interim dean of arts and sciences and a 12-year stint as head of the school鈥檚 Learning and Teaching Center, which he founded during his second year as an assistant professor. He also developed and then led the school鈥檚 Go Green Institute to encourage middle school students to pursue careers in science and engineering. And, he holds several patents that he helped develop into small companies. The takeaway here is this: 1) Jones is qualified. 2) He likes a challenge.

Both facts may be why his immediate focus for 易胜博官网 is student retention. It鈥檚 not that there鈥檚 a problem; in fact, at 86 percent, 易胜博官网 is 20 percent above the national average in first-year retention. The question Jones asks, however, is: Why isn鈥檛 it 95 percent?

鈥淲e have an outstanding student body; 86 per- cent of them come back, and that鈥檚 a really good number. But I think we can do better,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n three years, I鈥檇 like to see us at 90 percent. And I think it鈥檚 possible.鈥�

That鈥檚 not just optimism; it鈥檚 confidence based on all his years in academia coupled with the belief that student success is at the heart of 易胜博官网 鈥� a belief he shares with 易胜博官网 President Jim Dean, and one that helped change his mind on the provost position following a phone conversation he had with the incoming president before Dean arrived on campus.

鈥淲hat struck me in the conversation was our alignment around student success as 鈥榡ob one,鈥欌�� Jones says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not just the faculty鈥檚 job to see that students succeed. It鈥檚 the job of the secretary who sees them in the business office, of the person in HoCo who serves them breakfast. It鈥檚 the job of all of us to make our students feel at home, connected and engaged with their learning.鈥�

Retention isn鈥檛 the only percentage Jones wants upped; he鈥檇 like to see the number of students who do internships increase from 78 percent to 100.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 very doable, particularly if we leverage our alumni,鈥� Jones says. 鈥淭hat real-world experience that comes from an internship is so important 鈥� we used to call it soft skills, learning what it鈥檚 like to behave as a professional. Internships help students get ready for jobs, and jobs make the careers they鈥檒l have in 10 years.鈥�

There鈥檚 more that the new provost would like to do. He wonders, for example, why 易胜博官网 isn鈥檛 better known, given all the good things that go on here. Maybe, he says, it鈥檚 a case of New England humble 鈥� that you don鈥檛 toot your own horn. There is also the challenge of trying to do everything and being spread too thin.

鈥淲e have to be targeted,鈥� Jones says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the resources to let a thousand flowers bloom.鈥�

But that doesn鈥檛 mean he鈥檒l stop planting the seeds.