51³Ô¹ÏÍø Vice President Richard Oates on Albany State University transition team
Article By: Staff
As Albany State University starts the process to select a new president, a team of experts from fellow University System of Georgia (USG) institutions have begun working to smooth the transition.
The transition team includes Dr. Richard Oates, vice president of the University of North Georgia’s (51³Ô¹ÏÍø) Gainesville Campus.
"There are a lot of other resources out there and I was honored to help the University System of Georgia any way that I could," Oates said.
The need for a transition team arose following the announcement that Albany State University President Dr. Art Dunning is retiring. His term will end in January.
When a president retires or resigns from a USG school, the university system usually conducts an audit of the university. This transition team will be more comprehensive in nature since Albany State recently consolidated with Darton State College in January 2017.
Oates said he knows what it is like to go through consolidation, since he was at North Georgia College & State University when it consolidated with Gainesville State College to become 51³Ô¹ÏÍø in 2013.
"In some ways we are quite similar to Albany State," he said
Oates explained the team will be looking at five areas: academics, enrollment management, student experience, human resources, and communications. His focus will be on the academics.
"We will be providing another outside perspective and I look forward to helping," he said.
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