Georgia State President M. Brian Blake has named Nicolle Parsons-Pollard as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs effective Feb. 1, having served in an interim role since January 2022.
Since arriving at Georgia State in January 2020 as associate provost for faculty affairs, Dr. Parsons-Pollard has created, implemented and championed a variety of faculty development programs to support and strengthen faculty in teaching and research, as well as leadership programming for department chairs and other administrators.
“Dr. Parsons-Pollard is a trusted colleague and a visionary, forward-thinking leader who will help take Georgia State into our next chapter,” said Georgia State President M. Brian Blake. “This past year alone, she has led in several major initiatives and activities that are taking us there.”
As interim provost, during this past year alone, she has led in several major initiatives and activities. Just a few of her contributions include co-leadership of the RISE Challenge to spur innovative, interdisciplinary research across campus; assistance with the leadership of the university’s strategic planning committee; support for the university’s continuing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; and support for a new leadership program to support women in higher education.
Dr. Parsons-Pollard has been responsible for developing and implementing faculty policies and procedures, managing university awards and recognition for faculty, and assisting with the promotion and tenure process. She continues to provide leadership and direction in support for the Next Generation of Faculty initiative and the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) process, which is now going into its second round.
With this move, Dr. Parsons-Pollard will become the first Black woman appointed as Provost in the university's history. She also will become the first Black person in Georgia State's history to hold the role in a permanent capacity. (The late Dr. Cleon Arrington held the interim position from 1992 to 1994.)
Dr. Parsons-Pollard began her career as a part-time instructor and then an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. She later went to work at Virginia State University, a Historically Black College/University (HBCU), where she was tenured and began her administrative career.
Over the past decade, Dr. Parsons-Pollard has served in five Provost’s Office-level administrative roles. Prior to her role at Georgia State, she was the vice provost for academic and faculty affairs at Monmouth University (New Jersey). At Monmouth, she was the state academic affairs representative and the regional accrediting body liaison officer. She also oversaw faculty affairs responsibilities, including interpreting the union contract and professional development for faculty, department chairs and deans. Under her leadership focusing on equitable hiring practices, Monmouth also increased under-represented faculty by 26.8% and women faculty by 15.23%. Dr. Parsons-Pollard has also held other administrative roles in higher education, including at Virginia State, where she served as assistant vice provost for academic operations, among other roles.
Dr. Parsons-Pollard also completed the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program in 2014-15, where she spent much of her time exploring budget and finance in higher education. Dr. Parsons-Pollard’s research focuses on disproportionate minority contact (DMC) and program evaluation. The second edition of “Disproportionate Minority Contact Current Issues and Policies“ was released in 2017. Most recently, her research has expanded to issues related to faculty workload in higher education.
She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and has a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration.
— Andrea Jones, Vice President for Public Relations & Marketing Communications
Additional information from Jeremy Craig, Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost
Originally published at the University News Hub at https://news.gsu.edu.