Paul Jones vows a more engaged Darton State College

ALBANY — When Darton State College Interim President Paul Jones arrived on campus five months ago, he embarked on a “walking and listening tour” of the college that consisted of face-to-face meetings and conversations with faculty, staff and students. It took him almost three months to figure out many on the 6,000 student campus thought the school was “on an island,” detached from the community.

That’s when Jones decided to vote Darton off the island.

“Darton State College is one of the crown jewels of Southwest Georgia,” Jones told the Dougherty County Rotary Club on Tuesday. “The institution has almost 6,000 students and graduates around 800 per year, but during my listening tour people said we needed to be more involved in the community; they felt it was as if Darton was on an island.”

Jones vows to change that perception, though he has no idea of how much longer he will be at the college.

“My contract is up in October, but I am not sensing a big push to find a permanent president at the moment,” Jones said. “I don’t know how much longer I will be here, but right now I just want to focus on what is in front of us. Then I want to narrow that focus more to the benefit of the community.”

Jones, however, quickly pointed out that the college is fulfilling its mission to the region — especially in the areas of health care and distance learning.

“Many people don’t know that roughly 40 percent of our full-time students are in enrolled in an allied health field, and that 31 percent of our students are exclusively on-line students. We are providing educational opportunities in a big way … oh, and we also have an annual $136 million economic impact on the region.”

In addition to getting Darton off the island, Jones said discussions are underway to add more four-year degree programs.

“Yes, we want to add more baccalaureate programs, we can’t say what they are at the moment because we’re unsure where to place our efforts,” Jones said. “Demand will drive those decisions, and we’ll need to sit down with the community and see what it wants from us.”

Staff-wise, Jones said part of his job is establishing a diverse network of internal controls, rather than the centralized system used by former President Peter Sireno.

“We want to add an internal auditor to the staff. Right now, we are one of just five or six (University System of Georgia) schools that don’t have one. We also want to create a legal affairs office and hire our own attorney,” Jones said. “I can promise you we are going to strengthen internal controls as we move forward.

Jones then touched on the recently-created “educational collaborative” among the Dougherty County School System, Albany State University, Albany Technical College and Darton. The group’s goal is to increase educational opportunities in the county.

“We are all excited about the educational collaborative that I am sure most of you have read or heard about,” Jones said. “But you need to be aware this is going to be a journey, we have no quick-fixes in the box. What is evident is that we can’t afford to just sit around. If we don’t try to move that needle forward, then shame on us.”