FAQs

 Beginning July 1, 2020, a new strategic alignment of Perimeter College’s academic leadership team became effective. The realignment positions  the college to continue forward momentum in a number of key areas and also serve us as we develop our strategic plan. Here are frequently asked questions about the realignment and answers from Perimeter College’s dean, Dr. Nancy P. Kropf:

Why is this taking place? Perimeter’s mission is higher education access, and for the students we serve, academic success. Over the past year, I have gotten to know the College and many of you as I engaged with you in conversations about our College and its strengths and opportunities. The associate deans and I discussed how our senior academic structure supports student success. This led us to the big question: is this structure the best set up for the College?

We brought in a consultant who helped us with a review of our leadership structure, specifically the associate dean role, which is partially academic and partially campus-based. What we discovered is that the structure did not allow us to fully utilize our academic strengths and talents. While we had talent in a specific area, it was not evenly distributed across all five campuses. Additionally, we were not structured in a way to capture initiatives and priorities that further innovation within our university. This new strategic alignment addresses these shortcomings.

How did you come up with the various areas under the new structure? There were several layers to get to this structure. First, many of the associate deans were doing some of the work in their new role already. However, their efforts were contained to their academic area or campus location. When the consultant visited, she noted that these efforts had potential to benefit the entire college and questioned why we were not using this capacity more efficiently. Upon receiving her report, I charged the associate deans to offer ideas about the functional areas where we needed more capacity. I give credit to them for coming up with the structure that we will be implementing.

When did this change take place? July 1, 2020.

How and why will this improve student outcomes? There were many positive initiatives focused on student success that do not fall under any associate dean in the current structure. As an example, Georgia State University President Mark Becker discussed the importance of considering workforce development issues in higher education, yet we did not have a good structure for bringing opportunities into the college. With our new structure, the Associate Dean for External Relations will be the point person to develop opportunities in this area. A second example is international/global issues. We have a tremendous amount of excellent work in this area, yet it was not centralized. As a result, we had campus-based or academic-based activities, but no one in a leadership role who was centralizing this process to further instruction and student learning. The new functional model allows our organizational structure to be more nimble and responsive to initiatives that are external and within the university that can improve student learning and outcomes.

Are there any new individuals in the associate dean role? Will previous associate deans for divisions be replaced with a new associate dean for that division? This is a strategic realignment, so the same individuals who are associate deans are remaining in this role. Going forward there will not be associate deans assigned to academic divisions.The academic division model will be removed from our organizational structure: the various academic departments will be managed on a college-wide basis by their department chair, and they will be overseen by the associate dean of academic affairs.

Will there still be associate deans on each campus? What will they do? At minimum, the office of one associate dean will be located on each campus That associate dean will still serve leadership roles for the college as required at that location. For example, associate deans will be on call to provide welcomes for various programs, greet high level visitors to campus, and serve as the Dean’s representative in that location. More importantly, in their new roles, the associate deans will focus on their core areas of academic mission and how to strengthen and carry out the goals evenly across all five campuses.

What will they not be doing in the future? The associate deans will not be responsible for the daily functioning of the physical campus. All of the important activities such as ongoing maintenance, cleaning, landscaping, identification of facilities issues and problems, public safety, etc., will be handled by the appropriate departments under the leadership of the Finance and Administration Division.

How will facilities and maintenance requests/issues/emergencies be coordinated in the absence of campus responsibilities for associate seans? Routine maintenance matters should be reported to facilities management If it is a health or safety emergency, you should always contact Georgia State University Police Department at 404-413-3333. Emergency maintenance matters should be reported to (404) 413-0700 and to the Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration. All requests to modify a space, regardless of scope, should be submitted to Vincent Payne, Perimeter College facilities officer.

How will the reporting line for academic chairs be structured? Since much of the work that the academic chairs do interfaces with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the reporting lines will be directly to Associate Dean Cynthia Lester. There will continue to be monthly academic chairs meetings that will include the Dean. The process for promotion/tenure, pre- and post-tenure reviews will go from the academic chairs to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs.

Under our current structure, we have academic departments and divisions. Will this continue under the new structure? We will only have departments under the new structure. Under the current structure, the college was divided into large divisions that were headed by an associate dean. For example, we had an Associate Dean of the Science Division over the two departments of Life and Earth Sciences and Physical Sciences. We had an Associate Dean of the Social Science Division over the two departments of History and Political Science and Cultural and Behavior Science.

In the new structure, we will no longer have academic “divisions,” but will be organized at the department level. For example, there will be the Department of History and Political Science, the Department of Cultural Sciences, the Department of Life and Earth Sciences, and the Department of Physical Sciences. Most of the departments will be multi-disciplinary, but they will be departments headed by a department chair. There is no longer a division structure that combines departments into a greater whole.

Who will head up the new Health Professions Department, and what academic pathways will this department include? Dr. Bonnie Young began her new duties on March 1 as the interim chair for Health Professions. The following pathways will be housed in this department:

• Kinesiology and Health
• Dental Hygiene
• Nursing
• Radiologic Technology
• EMS (once approved)
• Health Sciences including: Health Information Administration, Medical Technology, Radiation Therapy, Respirator Therapy, and Health Science Professions

How will this affect me as a department chair?  Department chairs now will directly report to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and will work with the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs for faculty promotion and tenure functions.

How will this affect me as an associate/assistant chair? We are examining whether any functions of academic chairs should be handed off to associate or assistant chairs. This will be part of the next step of the process. As we review this critical area of our leadership function, we will follow the same basic process that led to the current alignment of our associate deans: we will be inclusive and involve the associate and assistant chairs in the discussion and formulation of any changes.

How will this affect me as a faculty member or staff person? For most faculty and staff, there will be little change in what you do. For some, reporting lines will be changed. Some programs that fall under the academic or campus part of the associate deans’ roles will have to be reassigned. We are working on identifying those areas as the next part of this process.

Who will be the second signer on faculty evaluations? The second sign-off will be done at the Dean’s level and will be delegated to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs.

Who will be responsible for shepherding faculty governance? (taking standing committee reports, ensuring elections take place, maintaining committee membership lists, etc). This function will remain with the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in conjunction with the Dean of the College.

Who will be in charge of CeTL? This is a critical area for students and faculty, and we think there are opportunities to partner with faculty in new ways.

Are there any cost savings or cost increases as a result of this change? I anticipate that this will be a cost-neutral change. However, it will position us to consider some potential new investments should these strengthen our access and student success mission.