Crimson and Gold Connection; Jan Smith

Welcome to Crimson and Gold Connection. My name is Dustin Traiber and today our guest is Jan Smith Who has just been named the interim dean of education? This is her second week now on on this job among about two or three other positions I think she takes on through the college Jan. Welcome this morning. Thank you Now Jan you're taking on the role of interim dean of PSU College of Education And this is a role that was previously held by Dr. Howard Smith who is now taking on the role of interim associate vice president for enrollment management student success. Now while you're doing this you're also continuing your duties as assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness So I would say you have your hands full for the for the next year or so. I think it will be a busy year But I'm really glad to be able to have this opportunity I will continue in my role as assistant vice president But very fortunate to have a staff in our office of institutional effectiveness That they can really take on many of the roles that I have been doing so lots and lots of delegation this year That will allow me to focus on the college of education in that interim role

Now doctor, if you don't mind we'll talk a little bit about your background You spent 20 years here at Pittsburgh State University and before then you you actually hailed from Scotland if I'm right I have a degree from Scotland, but I'm actually from the Isle of Man Which is a very small island between England and Ireland. Okay, and our claims to fame We Famous for the TT motorcycle races for the motorcycle enthusiasts out there. We are a tax haven And this is where Mank's cats come from the cats with no tails. That is my nationality like the cats Well, I was picking up on the accident for you for me because I didn't read I just saw the Scotland thought well That's where she's from, but and your accent is very you can tell you've been here in the States for quite some time because it's very light I have been in the States for many years And why brought you originally to Pittsburgh State brought you originally to Pittsburgh I was looking for a position When I graduated after my doctoral degree and the

Courses seemed like a perfect fit for my background I came and interviewed and absolutely loved it here and could not imagine a better place to work and 20 years later you're still here and you've moved up and you're and now you're taking on this new position For the College of Education So let's go into that. It's the first week of college We are both speaking about traffic this morning of how everybody forgets how to how to drive the first week of school But everyone's here. This the college is hopping. Let's talk more about your plans for the College of Education this year It's actually Really just been fascinating even just being back for one week I have been a member of the College of Education for over 20 years as a faculty member and In my position as assistant vice president a good part of my time is spent in my office By myself often late at night writing reports So it has been an absolute pleasure to be

involved and Interacting with people and Getting to see some of the things that go on at the college level and Dr. Smith can you tell me a little bit about the difference between your previous position in this new one? How's that transition going to work for you? Well, I'm very fortunate that I have a lot of great people in the College of Education that will help with that transition Having been in a faculty position. I know a lot about the faculty role Having been an assistant vice president. I would like to think I have a good knowledge base at the institutional level And so really it's about learning things at the college level and it will be a steep learning curve to begin with But we have a very experienced leadership team very stable leadership team in our chairs and director of teacher education Our program coordinators, so we have a very strong faculty and staff that have already been so supportive and Many have come and approached me and offered to help in any way they're able to do so

So I feel very very supported in this world by the College and I'm very appreciative for that Now early in my college career I actually took a semester at the College of Education and my first week of classes that teachers would almost have a rallying cry and say who wants to be a teacher And everybody in the room would stand up and say I do How exciting is that for brand new students to come in to the College of Education because really this is how Pittsburgh State University began It was a college for educators Absolutely teaching is our roots of the university and also when we look at the number of graduates from Pittsburgh State University Many many of our students do have a degree in education One of the things I would like to point out is that the College of Education We have teacher education programs We also have the college we also my apologies have the department of health human performance and recreation And we have the department of psychology and counseling

So we're made up of three departments that really offer a diverse array of programs And to come back to the question you originally asked about students I do quite a bit of work with other institutions because of our regional accreditation And one thing that really stands out at Pittsburgh State is we say we're all about the students But we really are all about the students And I encourage our students to take advantage of the support that we provide We really want to empower our students to succeed We enjoy our students and we hope our students enjoy being here at Pittsburgh State And specifically in the College of Education Now Dr. before our interview we were actually speaking about the College of Education's impact on the community I'm really glad that you brought up the community because I again I've worked with many institutions And I have never seen a relationship like we have between Pittsburgh State and the community The level of support that we get from our community is phenomenal

In fact our mission statement of the institution is to provide transformational experiences for our students and our community But I think the community also provides transformational experiences for us And in my new position I'm really looking forward to having the opportunity to interact Much more with our community members and be a part of that Well Dr. Thank you so much for coming in today and speaking to us about your new role as interim dean of PSU College of Education I wish you the best of luck for this semester and this coming year I know you'll do a great job And thank you so much for coming in and speaking to us on Crimson and Gold connection Thank you again Dr. Jan Smith Thank you