Meet the Provost
Nicolle Parsons-Pollard, Ph.D.
Nicolle Parsons-Pollard, Ph.D. was appointed by Georgia State University President M. Brian Blake as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs effective Feb. 1, 2023.
She served as interim provost in 2022. Prior to her appointment in this leadership role, she was appointed in 2020 as Georgia State’s Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs.
As Provost, Dr. Parsons-Pollard serves as the university’s chief academic officer. Her portfolio includes the development and implementation of the university’s academic programs and policies; supervision of deans and associate provosts; and direction for international initiatives and study abroad, graduate policy and programming, institutional effectiveness (institutional research and reporting), strategic planning, and assessment of learning outcomes and academic programs. Additionally, she directs activities in the recruitment, hiring, retention and promotion processes for faculty positions.
Under the university’s new strategic plan, Blueprint to 2033, Dr. Parsons-Pollard is an essential leader in the implementation of a plan that maps Georgia State’s path for the decade ahead. Under the new plan finalized in spring 2023, she will work alongside colleagues in leadership for four crucial pillars of the university’s future: identity, placemaking and belonging; research, scholarship, and creativity; student success 2.0; and supporting students beyond college and into their careers.
In support of student success, she has undertaken a reorganization to create the Office of Academic Affairs, bringing together units responsible for academic strategic planning, innovation and faculty support in teaching and learning, institutional research and assessment, curriculum, program development, and other key functions.
As Provost, she is dedicated to innovative, impactful education that meets the needs of students where they are, with excellence in learning and student success regardless of modality. Dr. Parsons-Pollard has tasked a cross-disciplinary team to coordinate online education efforts across academic and non-academic units. The team has been charged with addressing distinctive requirements of online programs and online students while ensuring that online education is integrated into all academic and student support services, and all appropriate academic units.
Since arriving at Georgia State, she has created, implemented and championed a variety of faculty development programs to support and strengthen faculty in teaching and research, as well as leadership programming for department chairs and other administrators. She has also developed and implemented faculty policies and procedures, managed university awards and recognition events for faculty, and assisted with the promotion and tenure process.
She has also provided leadership in Georgia State’s multi-year improvement cycle through the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Satisfaction process. This process that is considered a “gold standard” in the field aims to improve the academic workplace, and increase retention and engagement of university faculty. This cyclical process has begun anew to continue assessment, planning, implementation and refinement of actions to make Georgia State the best place to work in higher education.
Dr. Parsons-Pollard was responsible for the oversight of the Implementation Steering Committee of the Next Generation of Faculty initiative, which has also brought truly impactful measures to bear for faculty recruitment, retention, engagement, and belongingness.
In her previous role as Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs at Monmouth University (New Jersey), she provided leadership to ensure the integrity and quality of academic programs with an emphasis on student success. She also oversaw the university’s promotion, tenure, and continuance process as well as developing university-wide initiatives to attract and retain a highly qualified and inclusive faculty. She served as the inaugural chair of a council that paved the way to the construction of a permanent interactive exhibit honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech on campus in October of 1966 and established the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Speaker on Social Justice series.
Dr. Parsons-Pollard has served as Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Operations at Virginia State University and completed the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program in 2014-2015.
Dr. Parsons-Pollard’s academic field of interest is in criminal justice, and she holds an appointment as Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State. Her research and scholarship has focused on program evaluation, juvenile justice, and disproportionate minority contact by the criminal justice system.
She earned her Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in public policy and administration, as well as a master’s degree in criminal justice and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from VCU.