USG Chancellor, ASU president speak to Rotary Club

ALBANY — University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley and Albany State University interim President Marion Fedrick were guests of the Albany Rotary Club Tuesday, offering a first-hand look at the progress being made in revitalization efforts at ASU.

“While I have worked with ASU in the past, I am now on the ground,” Fedrick, who is also the USG’s vice chancellor for human resources, said. “I have a really big heart when it comes to ASU and want to make sure it is successful.”

Fedrick assumed the role of interim president shortly after former President Art Dunning announced his retirement late last year.

“When we came down in October, we wanted to make sure as Dr. Dunning was transitioning that we had a really good plan in place for academics so it could grow,” Fedrick told members of the civic club. “We wanted to redesign our academic curriculum like we are doing right now as well as becoming involved in student affairs and engagement. It’s been a challenge, but it’s something we have really focused on. We’ve spent the last six months really working with our students.

“We’re also looking at our internal operations. We’re looking at how we get from recruitment to enrollment to financial aid and how we get that all under one umbrella, and making sure that we are doing it really well.”

Fedrick added that she and her staff are simply looking for ways to get better.

“We are focusing a lot of our time and energy on those things,” she said. “We’re trying to communicate better with our community and with students who want to come to ASU. We’re out in the community now; we are out in the schools. We have a presidential bus tour going on right now for Dougherty County schools, and we’ll also be visiting other counties.

“We would love to start recruiting students when they are in the eighth and ninth grades, when their parents are really pushing them about going to college.”

Fedrick said the university is focusing its recruiting efforts heavily on the local area.

“I think we have recruited effectively, but most of those students came from outside of the region,” she said. “We are pushing things very hard right now.

According to Fedrick, ASU’s current enrollment is now at more than 5,700.

“We’ve worked with many of the people in this room, and I want to thank them for their support and many candid comments we’ve had in conversations,” Wrigley said. “They have been very beneficial to us. I also want to thank Marion for serving as interim president. I know it’s a challenging assignment. She embraced it willingly, and I think it’s a measure of our commitment to Albany State.”