Dr. Stanley Preczewski, Vice President for Academic Student Affairs at Georgia Gwinette College
Dr. Stanley Preczewski, presidential candidate, opened up his presentation to faculty and students by introducing himself as ‘Stas’, giving students a sense of who he is, what he has experienced, and what he could offer if ultimately selected as the next President of the University.
Preczewski currently serves as the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC). He has also served as the Interim President of Georgia College & State University, along with multiple positions with the United States Military Academy at West Point for 11 years.
Questions about athletics, Greek life, extracurricular activities, commuter parking situations and academics buzzed throughout Wilson Auditorium and Preczewski acknowledged each issue while listening to each student’s concerns.
“I get my energy from students and I understand that I have a job because of students. No students, no job,” Preczewski said.
Preczewski cited examples from GGC of how administrators and faculty work to provide multiple leadership opportunities for students in and out of the classroom. “We even created a leadership institute to support the study and teaching of leadership so that our students would have a solid foundation in applied leadership,” he said.
Alan Jean, senior Political Science major, explained what he took away from Preczewski’s conversation with students. “I feel like ‘Stas’ left a presence and has a passion and drive to bring a piece of himself to wherever he works and wants to use that presence to improve wherever he works,” Jean said.
Preczewski also explained an exercise that he had participated in to understand how students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, the community and trustees would describe the college.
Preczewski said, “Students would say they were ‘enlightened.’ Such that their eyes were opened to new ways of viewing their world intellectually; faculty would say they were fully ‘engaged’ with their students, research and community in meaningful ways; the staff would report that they are ‘supported’ by the administration and that they dedicate themselves in total support to the students and faculty; that alumni report the campus they left will always be ‘home’ to them – a place to return to join lifelong friends they had made here.”
Preczewski continued, “Donors who came to know Monmouth would be ‘inspired’ to contribute their treasures to continue to enhance the mission of the college in producing truly outstanding graduates; that our surrounding community viewed us as ‘partners’ in building the community in service to others; and that if all of this were indeed accomplished, the Board of Trustees would view the university as ‘respected’ among its peers and beyond.”
Preczewski also explained how he visited the campus on multiple occasions prior to submitting his application for the presidency. “In a ‘secret shopper’ fashion, I visited the campus three times before the two interviews to get to know the students, faculty, some staff and coaches to see if Monmouth was the type of community I wished to join. I am pleased to report that it was an overwhelmingly positive experience,” he said.
The University’s immaculate, modern and historic structure caught Preczewski’s attention and he described how he met warm and genuinely happy people.
“The visits inspired me to work even harder in my pursuit of the position. It would be an absolute privilege to be able to join this campus team for the next decade or so and see just how far we can take the University together,” Preczewski said.
Joseph Dellera, President of Tau Kappa Epsilon, commented on the conversation and on Preczewski’s membership with Theta Chi, Iota Xi chapter. “I think ‘Stas’ was very personable and clearly knowledgeable. Being in Greek life was definitely a plus too,” Dellera said.
Preczewski is a New Jersey native and married with three children. He enjoys rowing, personal fitness and traveling.
The Presidential Search Committee’s finalist campus visits concluded with Preczewski’s visit last week. Prior visits to the campus include candidates Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, Dr. Donald H. Sebastian and Dr. Paul Richard Brown.
The Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet on February 26 to discuss its appointment of a new president.
Grey Dimenna, Vice President and General Counsel of the University Administration, said, “Once a decision is made, the next step would be for representatives of the Board of Trustees to negotiate a contract for that individual to serve as president of Monmouth. Once agreement is reached, the announcement of the new president will be made.”
IMAGE TAKEN from gcsu.edu
