{"id":7404,"date":"2019-06-14T14:18:14","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T18:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=7404"},"modified":"2023-02-15T10:47:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T15:47:07","slug":"kyle-marrero-14-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2019\/06\/14\/kyle-marrero-14-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Southern Welcomes Kyle Marrero as Its 14th President"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On April 1, 2019, Georgia Southern welcomed Dr. Kyle\nMarrero as the 14th president of the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marrero hit the ground running and spent his first few days visiting each campus, dining with students, meeting the University\u2019s bald eagle mascot, briefing Faculty Senate, learning more about various initiatives, finalizing the university\u2019s budget, reviewing campus efficiency suggestions, attending a baseball game, and even learning the Georgia Southern fight song as he and his family traveled to the Armstrong Campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before joining Eagle Nation, Marrero was the president of the University of West Georgia (UWG) for six years. Under his guidance, UWG achieved records in enrollment, graduation rates, degrees conferred, fundraising and annual economic impact to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to his appointment at West Georgia, Marrero served as vice president for university advancement at the University of West Florida, overseeing the university\u2019s integrated marketing communications efforts, fundraising, development and alumni relations\u2019 activities. His background in the arts has taken him to 10 countries as an artistic ambassador for the United States Embassies and 40 states as a singer and stage director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He holds bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in vocal\nperformance from Bowling Green State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts\nfrom the University of Michigan. He has been married to nationally acclaimed\nopera singer Jane Redding for 23 years and they are blessed with a beautiful\n9-year-old daughter, Lily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia Southern <\/em>magazine asked Marrero a few questions about his\nbackground, his leadership and his vision for the University.
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What attracted you to Georgia Southern? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have long admired Georgia Southern University for all it has accomplished, its dedicated faculty and staff, and the success<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of\nit students. It is an important institution to the State of Georgia, the\nsoutheastern region, and the nation\n\u2014 now serving approximately 26,500 students. This is a critical time for the\ninstitution as it defines its new path and regional presence \u2014 post consolidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you see as the major challenges and issues facing Georgia Southern (higher education in general) over the next decade? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, these are critical times for institutions of higher education and for Georgia Southern. In order to be relevant, institutions of higher education need to communicate their distinctives, align their programs with the needs of the region, the state and beyond. They need to improve retention and graduation rates, cultivate and engage in mutually beneficial partnerships, friend and fundraise, and provide experiential learning opportunities for their students with the primary goal of preparing them for successful careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What were your first impressions of Georgia Southern and immediate\nopportunities?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Are there particular goals you would like to reach in your first 100 days? Your first year? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We have an extraordinary opportunity at Georgia Southern. We are entering a new era filled with optimism, energy and momentum. In order for me to honor the past and forge a new unified Georgia Southern, Eagle Nation, I must take the time to listen to internal and external stakeholders from faculty, staff and students; to community members and groups; to legislative representatives and the expectations of the Board of Regents. I will take the time listening, communicating, and learning \u2014 and providing a vision, building trust, process and energy to implement that vision. Mostly, it will be an opportunity for me to engage, understand culture, hear needs and concerns, and establish relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must foster a culture of institutional effectiveness that will insure our sustainability and growth. To that end, we will measure our success with institutional key performance indicators (KPIs) that will, through data analysis, benchmark and provide goal setting with comparator peer and aspirant institutions. Senior leadership will develop scorecards \u2014 transparently holding each leader accountable for setting and reaching identified goals. I believe that actively engaged and well-trained leaders are an integral part of an engaged workforce \u2014 and engaged campuses\u2026.
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Our goal will be to create the strongest\nleadership team possible as we work to fulfill the expectation of our\nstakeholders and region we serve. I have been\ndescribed by my colleagues as having\n\u201curgency\u201d \u2014 I will borrow a quote\nfrom another musician, Leonard Bernstein, \u201cTo\nachieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite\nenough time!\u201d My goal, indeed our\ngoal, is to honor the past and forge the\nNew Eagle Nation! The Eagle Nation\nthat will be achieved with our collaborative efforts and passion of all of my colleagues, our community and our alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What role do you think alumni should\nplay in the growth of a university?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Georgia Southern alumni must be informed and connected to the institution and believe that it has transformed their lives. It is like any relationship\u2026we, the institution, have a responsibility to keep our alumni informed and alumni must feel a deep enough connection to want to engage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a former faculty member, department chair, director of a school, and VP for Advancement, I learned early that most alumni feel their connection to the institution via their program of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

study, faculty mentors, student organizations, or a\nphysical campus location or event (athletics, homecoming, etc\u2026). This is where\nwe must strategically focus our efforts to engage with our alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with all things, change is our biggest\nchallenge. Alumni remember the institution through their lens and experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When two institutions consolidate that brings two similar and disparate experiences to honor and remember. It is our responsibility to communicate and engage our alumni, of both institutions, to be part of and inform the direction of the new Eagle Nation. They must see the \u201cvalue added\u201d of the consolidation and their place in its future!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have a background in music, why and how did you make the\nshift to working in higher education administration?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\nquestion \u2014 how in the world does an opera singer become a university president\nor more importantly\u2026what in the\nworld was the search committee thinking? It\u2019s\ntrue \u2014 my training and\nbackground is in music\u2026opera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a musician and former leader of arts organizations. And, while it might not seem like an obvious background for a university president \u2014 I believe it has prepared me very well for the challenges that come with the role. For one thing, the arts are always underfunded. I\u2019m accustomed to raising funds and making every dollar work as hard as it can. That\u2019s going to be important to Georgia Southern as we look for ways to offer even more opportunities for our students by increasing scholarship support and enhancing the student experience. Also, musicians learn to be creative within set parameters. I have always been an organizer of people, processes, and systems, whether it is leading arts organizations or serving in a higher education administrative capacity. You see in music, you are asked to be creative and interpret a piece within the guidelines dictated by the composer. You are given the key signature, the time signature, tempo markings, etc., but inevitably it is still your interpretation of the music in collaboration with others that culminates in a final outcome: the performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your\nfavorite type of music?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As you know, I am a classically trained musician, specifically classical voice, choral and opera. So \u2014 no surprise, I am a lover of opera, musical theatre, choral music, and classical song literature. Now, I\u2019ve always been a closet rock-and-roll fan \u2014 Van Halen, KISS, 38 Special, Journey, Boston, Jefferson Starship (Airplane). Unfortunately, I\u2019m a baritone and really sound strange trying to sing karaoke to any of it. My daughter, Lily, forbids me to sing along!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scan this code to see the Marrero Family Carpool Karaoke video or visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu\/videos<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


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President Marrero\u2019s First Days<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a look at the many students, faculty, staff and community members President Marrero (and, at times, his family) met during his first weeks in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n