{"id":15119,"date":"2024-07-22T13:12:36","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T17:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=15119"},"modified":"2024-07-23T12:06:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T16:06:24","slug":"a-team-worth-its-salt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/a-team-worth-its-salt\/","title":{"rendered":"A team worth its SALT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From upper left, Dr. D. Jamar Simmons, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students; Dr. Reginald Garcon, AVP of Student Records and University Registrar; Latoya Jenkins, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience; and Dr. April L. Johnson, Associate Vice President of Recruitment and Student Success and Student Experience make up the Division of Enrollment Management and Student Experience’s Student Affairs Leadership Team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Latoya Jenkins<\/strong> wants to ensure UMES is fully prepared for the new influx of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenkins, UMES\u2019s Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience, has built a staff with experience to manage that increase and improve the student experience in ways ranging from student retention to social life on campus to career services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the last three years, our institution has undergone a transformation that has included 13% student growth and close to 3,000 students on campus,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was essential to create a team that could continue the transformation and hone in on the details and specific areas in need of further development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creation of Jenkins\u2019s Student Affairs Leadership Team (SALT) began with the hiring of Dr. Reginald Garcon<\/strong> nearly two years ago, which allowed Dr. Garcon to assume some responsibilities that Jenkins was doing following her ascent to the position in 2020 without a second-in-command in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, Jenkins completed her staff with the hires of Dr. April Johnson<\/strong>, the Associate Vice President of Recruitment and Student Success, and Dr. D.<\/strong> Jamar Simmons<\/strong>, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students. Garcon\u2019s AVP role now focuses on Student Records and the Office of the Registrar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was looking for a team who had skills they could leverage on our university and help bring about new initiatives or sustain the goals that we have,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cThey are all well-studied in their craft and have proven themselves in the area of transformation at their previous institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson, whose experience includes more than a decade at Bowie State University, will oversee career services while also updating the student code of conduct and the student handbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always say that my job is to clear the way so staff can get their jobs done,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen we clear the way for staff to get their jobs done, then it positively impacts the student experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simmons arrives at UMES with impressive experience in student service roles at Xavier University, Kentucky State University, and most recently, Dillard University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As AVP\/Dean of Students, Simmons\u2019 responsibilities include supervising clubs and organizations, the Student Government Association and Imperial Court, the Campus Activities Board, Counseling Services, and the Office of Residence Life. He will also focus on developing and advancing student advocacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the previous institutions where I worked, I’ve been able to build out avenues for students to receive that level of advocacy when we’re at certain tables,\u201d he said. Sometimes, we don’t always have that student voice, and it’s important to have the right people at the table. You have to be that to make sure that students get the things that they not only need, but they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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From left to right: Dr. April Johnson, Dr. Reginald Garcon, Latoya Jenkins, and Dr. D. Jamar Simmons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For Garcon, who has nearly two decades of experience as a registrar, the transition to his current role wasn\u2019t a drastic change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As interim registrar, Garcon, with the help of an Enrollment Management Taskforce, implemented new policies focusing on topics such as academic sanctions and dismissals from the university, allowing for increased student retention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of the need for change was because the verbiage and criteria issued back then is now antiquated and punishes students who didn\u2019t meet a particular threshold,\u201d he said. \u201cOn average, we would get 190 or so dismissals at the end of the semester, and based on the tweaking of the policy this past semester, we\u2019ve seen a 95% decrease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all her hires in place, Jenkins now wants to focus on strategic goals while continuing to enhance the student experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am hoping that with these three AVPs, we will be working to quickly move onto the national landscape,\u201d she said. \u201cThat’s what I believe this type of team will be able to do. Hiring this leadership team will also give us the capacity to make changes that will benefit our students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Latoya Jenkins wants to ensure UMES is fully prepared for the new influx of students. Jenkins, UMES\u2019s Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience, has built a staff with experience to manage that increase and improve the student experience in ways ranging from student retention to social life on campus to career services. \u201cOver…Read more A team worth its SALT<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":15123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-15119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15119"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=15119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}