Vickie Cox Edmondson’s unwavering commitment to student success resulted in an appointment as the first Associate Provost for Student Success at Morehouse College, a private liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. One of four inaugural Associate Provosts appointed by and who reported to Provost Garikai Campbell (former Chief Academic Officer), Dr. Cox Edmondson was responsible for developing and overseeing a strategic management process to ensure value-add, retain, and graduate more than 2100 students, most of whom were Black males, pursuing a BA or BS degree within three academic divisions (Business Administration and Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Math and Science). She collaborated with the Provost, Associate and Assistant Provosts; Divisional, Department Chairs and Program Directors; and Student Development staff to serve faculty and students.

Leadership Philosophy

The art of leadership is the courage to say yes to opportunities when others say it can’t be done or are unwilling to try. We have a duty to care and to act ethically.

Accomplishments

• Secured and served as program manager of a $1.25mil UNCF grant and a $25,000 Project Pericles grant to support student success initiatives.  Also served as the program manager for a $1mil Gates Foundation grant.

• Secured institutional funding for Title III employees in academic advising

• Changed academic standing classification system to ensure that students were poised to graduate in 4 years based on 15 credit hour accumulation per semester even as freshmen

• Formalized the student intervention model for under-performing students (I.C.A.R.E.)

• Created the Student Success, Douglass Academic Success Center, and Career Services for The Division of Business Administration and Economics webpages

• Served as account administrator and grew the number of followers on the Morehouse Success Twitter account by 5500%, created a Twitter account for  Career Services for The Division of Business Administration and Economics

• Worked with the Bookstore to secure book orders for 100 level courses in the includED program for 100% faculty participation

• Successfully managed the Starfish purchase, implementation, and launch

• Branded the “agency” value through the “Becoming a Man of Agency” campaign to improve student outcomes and promote self-reliance

• Wrote the new policy on graduating with Latin Honors, which raised the standard from 3.0 to 3.25 for Cum Laude standing

• Wrote the commencement recognition policy for deceased and severely disabled students

• Served on multiple General Education committees to ensure a high quality and streamlined curriculum reduced from 53-58 credit hours to 34-38 credits and centered on key essential outcomes for student success

• Created online forms for faculty, students, and staff for the Student Success website

• Worked with Department Chairs and the Office of Strategic Communications to ensure that department websites were updated and included key information for current and prospective students

• “Be There” for ceremonies, student events (on and off-campus), sports events, etc.

• Sent newsletters prior to faculty meetings to update faculty on student success initiatives  

• Taught two sections of the Business capstone course each semester

Supervisory Responsibilities

Associate Provost Cox Edmondson had supervisory responsibilities in four areas and direct reports not assigned to one area: Director of Academic and Professional Development, and Program Director, Pedagogical and Curricular Initiatives.

 Frederick Douglass Academic Success Center

Led and managed a team of student support professionals who provided academic success coaching, workshops, tutoring, test monitoring, and student-athlete academic services.

Direct Report: Center Director. Supported three additional full-time and three part-time employees

 Accomplishments

• Appointed a new Center Director with stronger credentials and vision for student success.

• Created the role of Athletic Advisement and Skills Enhancement Specialist

• Overhauled the Center to increase capacity and programs to improve learning support services for students and staff. Established work4Success skillshops to address the needs of more than 400 students reported as underachieving in two or more classes at midterm. Reduced the number of students to 205, placed students on academic probation, and offered academic recovery through I.C.A.R.E. intervention

• Secured online resources through Woodburn Press

• Created a reading area in the Common Room and established a Resource Room

• Staff provided monthly tallies of facility usage, indicating an average of 500 students visits the Center on weekdays. Conducted exit and satisfaction surveys for programs

• Created an online space reservation form

• Established the Center as a primary college resource for new student enrollment efforts and summer bridge programs

• Established a contributing role for a displaced office manager/executive assistant to serve in faculty and student resource coordination

• Created the roles of Student Learning Specialist and Athletic Advising and Skills Enhancement Specialist for student support

 Academic Advising and Mentoring

Unified a team of professional advisors responsible for assisting students in preparing their class schedules, monitoring their academic progress, and offering guidance to students and faculty advisors regarding Morehouse College academic programs.

Direct Reports: 1-3 Professional Advisors. Supported 50+ Faculty Advisors

 Accomplishments

• Developed a structured advising approach for 2100 students for on-time course registration and to reduce the number of excess credit hours beyond the 120 hours required to complete a degree program.·  

• Provided a working definition of academic advising to guide student success outcomes

• Standardized advising within three divisions using a hybrid structure of professional and faculty advisors

• Reestablished the role of faculty advisors as primary advisors for all students

• Worked with Civitas Learning Partners, Morehouse Technology Group, and Academic Departments to assess the enterprise system’s compatibility with Degree Map. Developed an online 4-year academic plan when it was determined that the two systems were incompatible

• Utilized Civitas Illume predictive analytics to select students for interventions

• Established an Academic Programs and Career Aspirations Fair  for more than 600 students and parents during New Student Orientation

• Established academic department engagements during New Student Orientation

• Enhanced the academic modules in New Student Orientation

• Established an Affirmation Ceremony to affirm academic majors identified by students on the common admissions application

• Worked with  New Student Enrollment Committee to establish the advising procedure to connect faculty advisors to 700 incoming students who were required to attend one of three on-campus enrollment sessions or participate in remote advising 

• Set parameters for conducting senior audits at 80 credit hours for graduation checks.

• Created the roles of Coordinator of Academic Advising and Faculty Support (now Director of Academic Advising) and Degree Progress Monitor (now Academic Support Specialist)  

Office of Career Development and Engagement

Collaborated with a team of Academic Affairs and Student Development professionals to enhance career services and increase faculty and student involvement in career service activities to improve graduate placement outcomes. Established better collaboration across campus to ensure that student aspiration and not major was the driving force in decision-making and in high-impact programming activities. Oversaw efforts to ensure students were prepared for internships, job searches, and placement.

Direct Reports: 2-3 Career Services Professionals

Accomplishments:

• Served on the selection committee for the Director of Career Planning and Placement (later became the Director of Career Development and Engagement)

• Demanded more career services activities and direct outcomes from the Director of Career Services in the Division of Business Administration and Economics to satisfy the demands of companies seeking to hire Morehouse students

• Established an enhanced role for administrative support personnel who had worked for the Office of Career Services in Business Administration and Economics for more than 45 years

• Established a greater connection between the Office of Alumni Relations and the Office for Career Services in Business Administration and Economics

• In conjunction with Student Development, established the Office of Career Engagement and Development

• Created a promotional booklet for stakeholders of the Office of Career Services in the Division of Business Administration and Economics to be distributed to students at New Student Orientation

• Established the role of Career Coach

• Established the Talent Assessment and Development Academy. The first cohort of students, 35-50, served in May 2017

 The Bonner Office of Community Service

Worked with the Director to establish the Office as a campus resource in addition to a community resource.

Direct Report: Office Director. Supported 2-3 employees

 Accomplishments:

• Cultivated a culture of accountability for employees who were assigned to the Office, resulting in an immediate improvement of on-campus visibility and customer service

• Established a better collaboration between the Office and the Academic Success Center to include donations of books to the Center’s Resource Room

• Supported the collaboration between the Office and the Faculty Development Center’s funding of scholarly opportunities for faculty interested in service-learning

• Worked with Director to begin the work to establish a resource connection between the Office and the General Education curriculum overhaul 

• Created the roles of Program Coordinator for Campus Initiatives and Service Learning Coordinator