Jessica Pellegrino – General Assignment Reporter
Between the new Science Center and the renovations being made to Buley Library, the external changes being made to Southern’s campus are more visible than ever before. However, more behind the scenes; Southern’s administration has been making internal change to Southern’s campus as well.
Over last semester and this past summer, Southern has hired new individuals for prestigious positions and has even created new positions to combat new needs within the university.
One position that was filled was Provost and the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Southern kept students in the loop during the hiring process through emails and forums in which students could voice their concerns to candidates.
At the end of the search, Southern hired Dr. Bette Bergeron. Prior to working at Southern, Bergeron was the Dean of the School of Education for Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
When asked what a Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs does for Southern students, Bergeron says, “The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs has a broad range of responsibilities that all center on the academic success of students.”
In other words, Bergeron is responsible for overseeing departments such as Education, Business, Health and Human Services, Arts and Science, and the Graduate School and processes involved in them, such as the advisement process, the admissions process and recruitment for the departments.
Bergeron works as a liaison for these departments so she collaborates closely with other members of SCSU’s administration.
“Many of the responsibilities align closely with the Division of Student Affairs, and therefore, I have the pleasure of working with the Vice President of Student Affairs, Tracy Tyree, on a daily basis,” says Bergeron. “The Provost and VPAA is a central member of the University Cabinet, and serves as the Acting President in the President’s absence. The responsibilities of the Provost and VPAA are quite diverse, which makes it such a challenging and exciting job for me!”
Aside from her built-in responsibilities, Bergeron is an advocate for change on campus. Though responsible for many different areas of study, Dr. Bergeron believes they can all be applied to one mission.
Bergeron says, “All of the areas that I am responsible for have one central goal—supporting the success of Southern’s students through exceptional teaching and learning experiences.”
To accomplish this, Bergeron is enacting various new programs with specific goals.
“Some of the initiatives that we’ll be exploring as a campus community include strengthening our recruitment and advising, strengthening ties and articulation with community colleges, developing a “student success center,” modifying or identifying new academic programs tied directly to regional workforce needs, and embracing diversity in its broadest definition by ensuring that our campus climate is accepting and supportive of all individuals,” says Bergeron.
How does she plan to execute these goals? Bergeron plans to forge new relationships with communities such as Bridgeport and New Haven, to create new programs and the potential for internships for students.
Another position that Southern filled this summer was the Dean of the School of Education. The position was given to Dr. Stephen Hegedus. Prior to Southern, Dr. Hegedus worked as a professor and administrator at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
During his nearly 15 years at the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Hegedus created a program focusing on the STEM subjects, as well as creating a PhD. program in Mathematics Education, which after seven years, such graduated its first student. Hegedus says, “I was in a similar city to New Haven called New Bedford. I believe it has a similar demographic.”
Though he is serving as the Dean of Education, Hegedus believes he has a different view of the position. The dean should be the face of the program.
“One thing a Dean is often critiqued for is that the student are out of his view,” says Hegedus. “They’re not visible, so he’s out of touch. I’ve been a professor for many years, so I’m really used to face-to-face. I will try my best to be in touch with students.”
Dr. Hegedus also strongly supports the building and sustaining of relationships with surrounding area schools. He says, “I’d like to create a network of superintendents and to invite them to campus, or even to the new SCSU on the Green, which is a great central area for meeting. I’d just want to talk about partnering up for research programs or internships, and also to increase Southern’s programmatic side, with Clinical Fieldwork placements.”
Hegedus says that these communication tactics can be carried into Southern’s School of Education as well.
“The School of Education has a meeting at the beginning of the semester, the day before classes start up, and it calls for a dialogue with the faculty,” says Hegedus. “I’d like to do something similar with the students, to see what they need, what they feel is going well, where we can grow If I don’t know the voice of the student, I’m only hearing the faculty.”
