Student success is not an abstraction for me — it is the reason I do this work. Over more than two decades leading academic departments and programs, I have built every curriculum revision, every advising model, and every co-curricular initiative around a single question: what does this student need to thrive, and do we have the structures in place to help them get there?
Building Environments Where Students Grow
When I arrived as Chair of Political Science at Radford University in 2021, the department enrolled 81 students. By 2026, that number had grown to 409 — an increase driven not by adding new programs indiscriminately, but by redesigning the major and minors to be more coherent, scaffolded, and career-connected. Retention followed: through a revised advising model that integrates faculty mentorship earlier and more intentionally, and the addition of a dedicated Careers course alongside the existing Internship course, the department has achieved 87% year-to-year retention for 2026, a nine-percentage-point improvement.
At the University of West Georgia, I led undergraduate enrollment growth from 115 to 284 majors and built the Master of Public Administration program to its NASPAA-accredited maximum of 75 graduate students — results that reflected both sound program design and a genuine commitment to student persistence. At Fort Hays State University, I advised more than 400 master's students and supervised 62 theses, mentoring students through one of the most demanding intellectual transitions of their lives.
High-Impact Practices as a Student Success Strategy
I have long viewed high-impact practices — internships, research, simulations, service-learning, civic engagement — as the most powerful levers available to faculty and administrators committed to student persistence and post-graduation success. At Radford, I increased the proportion of departmental courses incorporating HIPs from 27% in 2021 to 78% in 2026. At West Georgia, the same metric rose from 4% to 66% over four years. These gains came through faculty development, curricular redesign, and the intentional creation of experiential opportunities — including founding the Virginia Government Simulation, a statewide mock legislature held on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates, and developing internship pipelines with the City of Radford, Pulaski County, and the Virginia legislature.
Physical Space as Community
Students succeed when they belong. I repurposed departmental space at Radford to create the Public Policy and Democracy Lab and a Student Community Center — places where students gather, collaborate, and build relationships with each other and with faculty. At Radford Sociology, I created a Black Studies Center to provide dedicated space for students of color to find community and institutional support. These are not amenities. They are retention infrastructure.
Civic Engagement as Student Development
My approach to student success has always included the development of the whole citizen. As a National Steering Committee member of AASCU's American Democracy Project and a recognized leader in campus voter engagement — earning Voter-Friendly Campus designation and the ALL IN Challenge Highly Established Action Plan designation — I connect students to their democratic identity as part of their educational experience. Civic engagement is not separate from academic success; it is one of its deepest expressions.
Mentoring Students to Distinction
Individual student development matters as much as aggregate data. At the University of West Georgia, I mentored student Rickia Stafford in her successful pursuit of a Truman Scholarship, and restructured faculty time to support students seeking Rhodes, Truman, and other competitive awards. Supporting undergraduate and graduate researchers to present at venues including the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education conference reflects a commitment to student excellence that goes beyond the classroom.
Student success, at its core, is about ensuring that every student who walks through the door leaves more capable, more connected, and more confident in their place in the world. That commitment has guided every program I have built and every institution I have served.