The First 100 Days: What’s New, What’s Next for Dr. Green as GSC Interim President
By Karolina Philmon, GSC Marketing Manager
At the end of August, Gordon State College Interim President Dr. Donald J. Green marked his first 100 days in office. In those three months and almost two weeks, Pres. Green left no room for procrastination and made great progress toward his goal of realigning GSC’s trajectory with central Georgia’s economic future.
Pres. Green understands the growing demand for people with specialized skills and therefore has put a great focus on the importance of student success measures: retention, graduation and employability. He sees GSC’s value as the economic driver for its local region.
“In the last three years, due to COVID-19, fewer students are pursuing college. Because of this, there’s an expanding demand for talent and specialized professions. That employable talent only comes from having a college degree with training in a variety of disciplines,” Green said. “We’re helping students acquire these specific skills and complete the credential, so they can take advantage of an exploding demand in the market.”
His plan for achieving this goal is to focus on more career-oriented degree programs that will better fit growing labor demands and a growing business environment. Pres. Green is currently in the process of proposing four such programs in the fields of information technology, health sciences, logistics and supply chain management, entrepreneurship, and retail management.
“The value of a Gordon State College education will set our students apart with in-demand skills that’ll attract top employers. At graduation, research has shown, your degree provides an average $1.1 million difference in pay and benefits over a lifetime when compared to a high school diploma.” Green said.
Pres. Green wants students to realize that college is a life-choice, a bridge to their future. He believes numerous students across America come to college and see it as a “test drive rather than buying the car.” He wants to help students create a vision for where they want to go, what they want their careers to be, what they wish to achieve throughout their lives, and to better understand how college graduation is an important steppingstone of that vision.
Increasing student retention is key to this process – to graduate, students must stay. Pres. Green acknowledges that the work put in within the last several years has paid off, with GSC seeing
incremental increases in retention rates. Moving forward, his goal is to “add fuel” to that momentum to achieve even better outcomes. One way is to emphasize the benefit of completing an entire associate degree at GSC. Many students don’t realize that if they earn an associate degree, every bit of their course work can be accepted at another University System of Georgia (USG) institution. By completing that first degree, the student has increased their options for further education, careers, and life goals. Of course, Pres. Green would want them to consider continuing at Gordon as a first choice.
The final and important piece of Pres. Green’s goal is to help students understand why they should choose to attend and graduate from GSC because of its quality and affordability. From the start, Pres. Green emphasized the value he sees in a GSC education, which is especially meaningful when families are deciding how best to afford college and ensure their students’ future success. An entire 4-year degree at GSC is approximately $17K in tuition. By choosing GSC, students can complete their degree without gaining substantial debt. Those with full financial aid can attend at no cost.
“You come to Gordon, and you’ll get an exceptional education, be highly employable, have a great career and potentially zero debt once you finish your bachelor’s degree,” Green said.
Over the next year, Pres. Green will focus on developing new programs, expanding outreach and promotion, and spreading the Gordon message across the region and state. He already has visited many local community organizations and high schools, and you may soon hear his voice on your local radio station discussing the value and benefit of a college education.
