SSU invited staff, students and alumni to weigh in on next president

Prior to Vice President Kamala Harris touring Savannah with a delegation of Savannah State University (SSU) students and then speaking at an Enmarket Arena rally on Thursday, Aug. 29, a presidential event of another sort took place.

Much more intimate crowds trickled in and out of SSU’s Elmore Theater inside the King Frazier Student Center, 3219 College St., throughout the morning for the University of Georgia’s (USG) Presidential Search Committee Listening Sessions.

AGB Search representative Gwendolyn Boyd, D. Min., said she and fellow AGB rep Kim Bobby, Ed.D., would be listening for all the attributes the next president should have, “including walking on water.” AGB is a consultancy firm retained by USG for executive search consulting services.

Boyd and Bobby sat on either side of Patrick Jones, member of the the USG Board of Regents (BOR) and search committee chair, throughout the sessions, which were divided by stakeholder groups of faculty/staff, alumni/ community/SSU Foundation members, and students.

Each session invited comments from in-person and online attendees. Sessions were structured into four questions, starting with what preferred attributes stakeholders would like see in the next president, then what challenges did attendees feel the president would most likely face, and then what opportunities attendees felt SSU presented to the next president. Last, Bobby and Boyd asked attendees to envision what life at SSU might be like five years in the future.

The feedback will inform AGB’s one-on-one conversations with applicants, but the stakeholders’ consensus was that the next SSU president needs to:

be a great communicator and listener
leverage SSU’s assets such as its history as the oldest public HBCU in Georgia and its unique location
build public and private partnerships within the communities throughout Savannah and Southeastern Georgia
have extensive experience in college leadership positions, preferably at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
be a stellar fundraiser who can connect to opportunities for research and professional development grants
increase enrollment while improving students’ academic and campus life experience
boost morale of faculty, staff and students while being active in the SSU community
develop a much-needed strategic plan (the last plan spanned 2014-2022)
provide stability by planning to be in the role long-term

SSU Presidential Search:University System of Georgia forms and enacts search committee for next SSU permanent president

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‘We need a president that’s ready to fight for us’

Before SSU Class President Katelyn Green introduced Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday evening at the rally in the Enmarket Arena, Green was one of a dozen or so students who shared their voices. She said, “We really need a president that’s ready to fight for us,” through fundraising as well as elevating SSU’s reputation among HBCUs. Other students voiced a desire for a president who was involved in student events, accessible and responsive to students’ needs.

Jacquelyn Stephens, a 1960 graduate of SSU, former head of the university’s Elementary Education Department, spoke a few times as different prompts were presented during the alumni session. She also spoke as someone who established the Jolly L. Stephens Football Scholarship Endowment in 2013 to honor her late husband. In her comments she noted her family’s legacy at SSU and shared that she would like to see the next president get creative about enrollment. “If you don’t have an increase in student enrollment, we don’t have a university,” she said.

For the faculty and staff portion, discussion centered around the need for a leader with higher education academic and institutional experience. Professional development and salary increases as well as alleviating extra responsibilities that have befallen employees as cuts have been made were other common themes among commenters. SSU Director of Student Life and SSU alumnus Desmond Stowe said employees want a president who will be “missed from where they’re leaving.”

The search team

Jones, Bobby and Boyd guided the listening sessions from the Elmore Theater stage.

Jones has been a USG regent since 2022. As he noted in his intro, he “was in the convenience store business [Flash Foods], sold out in 2016.” He is now chairman of the board of PrimeSouth Bank, president of The Jones Company and president of Walker Jones Automotive Group. He attended the University of Georgia, earning a bachelor’s degree in Risk Management in 1987. He also serves on the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Southern Georgia Citizen’s Review Panel.

Bobby has been with AGB since 2017. Her educational pedigree includes degrees in Business Administration Management (bachelor’s) and Educational Administration (master’s) from California State University as well as Doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle. Prior to working with AGB she had held leadership positions at the University of Puget Sound, the American Council on Education and Prince George’s Community College. She has assisted in searches for higher education institution presidents, a provost and diversity leadership professionals as well as a the chancellor for the Foothill-De Anza Community College District.

Boyd earned her Doctorate of Ministry from Howard University after obtaining undergraduate and graduate degrees in mathematics, mechanical engineering and divinity. She was a Principal Professional Staff, Mechanical Engineer at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for 34 years before becoming Alabama State University’s first female president in 2014. She served in that role just under three years and began working with AGB in 2017. Since joining, she has assisted with securing presidents for Edward Waters University, Chicago State University and Tougaloo College.

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