Marion Fedrick Fedrick discusses first month on job at Albany State University

ALBANY — After a month on the job, Albany State University interim Executive Vice President Marion Fedrick took some time Friday to reflect on her new — albeit temporary — job at the university.

She assumed her position on Oct. 9, shortly after ASU President Art Dunning announced his retirement, effective Jan. 31 of next year.

Fedrick has inherited a university in a state of flux, still trying to find its footing since its official consolidation with Darton State College this past January. Over the past four weeks, the University System of Georgia’s Vice Chancellor for Human Resources said she has not encountered any surprises during the transition.

“We’ve worked so closely with Albany State over the last several years that we were already aware of the positives and negatives for the most part,” Fedrick said. “We were on top of it, and I don’t think there is anything that has been a surprise so far. Now one of the things I will say is, from the systems office, maybe we were not as involved with the pulse of the community, and just getting involved there has been a great experience. But that is something we didn’t focus on earlier.

“We depended on the campus to build those relationships. We do from afar, but not to the level of being as engaged since I have been here.”

Fedrick said the USG is considering a number of new initiatives to facilitate student enrollment, retention and graduation rates.

“I am excited about the launch of a task force to focus on how we can improve and enhance the student experience at Albany State University,” she said. “The ASU Student Engagement Experience Task Force will lead an in-depth examination of the student experience, from when a student enrolls to when a student reaches that incredible milestone of graduation. This is the first major initiative the transition team is announcing to create the new Albany State, and students will be at the core of this initiative by serving on the task force.

“We want to know what the students want. We see it from the administrative side as to what we think is broken from a system standpoint. What we want to know now is what the students care about and what makes a difference to them. Times change, and students want different things.”

Fedrick said she also wants to improve the enrollment and financial aid experience for students.

“We want to know it all, from recruitment, financial aid, enrollment, how they are registering for classes, the campus life experience,” she said. “We also want to concentrate on communication, how best to communicate with them. The SGA (Student Government Association) wants to get involved, which is great, but now we have to balance that with what we can do and what their requests are.

“So we really expect to hear a lot from the students.”

As she works her way through her new job, Fedrick said she looks at the campus and the community and the word that pops into her head is “potential.”

“My general feeling is I am overwhelmed with the amount of potential I see that resides between ASU and this community. And I mean that sincerely,” Fedrick said. “There are conversations about new partnerships and partnerships that may have been in place that weren’t nurtured the way they needed to be nurtured. The potential that exists and how we can develop those partnerships is what I see every time I come on campus.”