Dr. Tymon M. Graham serves as the Director for Administration and Research Strategy for The Dr. N. Joyce Payne Research Center at The Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Prior to joining the Payne Research Center, he served as Associate Vice President for Student Success and Engagement at Edward Waters University and has held administrative roles at both 2-year and 4-year institutions in enrolment management, campus life, student engagement, student success, strategic initiatives, and Title IX. Dr. Graham’s executive leadership strategies have resulted in significant institutional achievements across multiple campuses as noted by the uptick in student success percentages, increased retention rates, growth of institutional enrollment numbers, and opening of new residence halls, providing for institutional stability and longevity. Acknowledged for his successes in creating and implementing ambitious strategic plans and enhancing institutional policy and operation, Dr. Graham has enjoyed higher education and non-profit tenures working across divisional lines for best-in-class institutional, organizational and operational successes. He earned a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State University, a master’s degree from the University of West Georgia, and a Doctor of Education degree from Benedictine University.
In a recent interview with Higher Education Digest, Dr. Tymon M. Graham discussed his experience with student affairs and Higher Education Administration. He shared his views on strategic plans in higher education, academic integrity, inclusive campus culture, and many more.
What are the key components of an effective strategic plan in higher education?
Any strategic plan should communicate the mission, vision, aims and values of the institution. However, to be effective there must be an honest and thorough analysis of the organization without bias or reservation. A thorough scan and assessment of the institution provides for an opportunity to establish key focus areas to propel the institution to meet and exceed planning goals. They key components of an effective strategic plan are (1) action-based goals accompanied with actionable focus areas and initiatives, (2) attainable data-driven performance metrics to indicate performance during monitoring, (3) allocation of financial resources and human capital assigned to each goal. While an unwritten component of the within the plan, constituent buy-in is critical. The involvement of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners will allow for effective implementation to chart a course to success.
How to ensure institutional growth while maintaining academic integrity and student success?
In today’s everchanging educational climate, institutions must maintain their base during growth phases. This requires a balanced approach. Academic partners must ensure high standards of teaching, learning and research while enhancing academic rigor. It is imperative to remain abreast of programs in high demand to develop new degree offerings that cater to a new generation of students. New and innovative programs will allow the enrollment management partners to increase enrollment, in contrast to swelling enrollment, without compromising the quality of the education or student profile. In any growth there must be resource and financial allocation. Whether that be in the form of partnerships, new revenue streams, retention efforts, student support services, or innovative investments, we must secure sustainable and reoccurring resources to support growth.
What role does technology play in organizational development within higher education?
Technology plays a critical role in the ability to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in every aspect of an institution. Whether you are using technology to employ data-driven decision-making to underscore enrollment and student success efforts or fostering innovation in business and finance engagements, leveraging technology is critical to the educational enterprise. At the institutions core is the academic enterprise. Technology is critical for learning management systems and expanding educational access and support to improve student engagement and success. By leveraging technology strategically, higher education institutions can enhance institutional growth and effectiveness, student success, and overall organizational optimization.
What are the biggest challenges facing student affairs today, and how do you think would be a better way to address them?
In an everchanging educational landscape, some of the biggest challenges facing student affairs surround mental health and well-being, student success and retention, and adapting to artificial intelligence. Students are coming to campus with greater challenges than ever before. A student’s mental health and well-being can alter or enhance their collegiate experience, so providing mental health services both in-person and virtual as well as employing student-centered programming on mental health management can help to meet the holistic needs of college students. Student success and retention efforts require student affairs professionals to view campus resources under a new lense while providing resources to students on our individual campuses. There is no “one size fits all” approach to student success and retention. Every campus will need catered approaches and unique resources to address their campus specific needs. Engaging in a critical analysis of the campus and student needs will enable proper practices to address student success and retention. These practices are inclusive of success support resources, intrusive advising, eliminating student financial barriers, and providing engagement programs, to name a few. Again, catering these items and more to your institution and student population is key. Lastly, with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, we must lean into technology by reshaping and communicating the institutions expectations on the ethical use of technology. Overall institutions must employ proactive, student-centered policies, cross-departmental collaboration, and data-informed decision-making to meet the evolving needs of students and address challenges.
How do you integrate career development and real-world experience into student affairs programs?
Collaboration and engagement with academic partners to supplement the discussions within the classroom with career focused programmatic efforts outside of the classroom is paramount to providing real-world experiences to students. Implementing programs that incorporate professionalism through coaching and the enhancement of soft skills facilitated by leading practitioners provides students with critical skills and experiences to add to their “professional toolboxes”. Providing students with opportunities to do mock interview with professionals within their chosen career fields and creating spaces for students to engage with professional mentors will help students develop their skills and get a peek into to the lives of active practitioners. When student affairs professionals cross collaborate to include career development programs within student leadership trainings, students are further equipped to engage in networking opportunities and professional engagement as they are presented. These are distinct ways to make students more competitive in the global market for job attainment. When students leave our campuses, they should be ready for the workforce.
How do you balance student advocacy with institutional policies and regulations?
Balancing student advocacy with institutional policies and regulations requires trust, clear communication, and understanding student needs while upholding university governance. The ability to be collaborative and communicative in your approach is paramount. In balancing the two, student affairs professionals can educate the student of institutional policies and practice, while empowering students to communicate and articulate in the most productive way. On the other side of the coin, balancing the two allows for the student affairs professional to discuss opportunities and avenues for colleagues to respond to student concerns while maintaining institutional integrity. In some instances, this may require flexibility as this may lead to the discovery of gaps in existing structures, processes and policy. As a bridge between students and administration, it is the responsibility of student affairs practitioners to be proactive in conflict resolution and employing restorative justice practices and open-door policies to prevent escalations. Additionally, we must work to educate, communicate, advocate and resolve student concerns in a way that empowers the students to be comfortable in voicing future concerns in the proper manner and see results without escalation in a culture of trust. By fostering a culture of trust and collaboration, student affairs professionals can advocate for students while supporting the institutional mission and policies, and when needed, propose amendments to existing structures and policy for overall success.
What are the most effective strategies for fostering an inclusive campus culture?
To foster an inclusive campus culture, the campus must desire this from the top down. Not only must this be the desire, but this must be underscored by effectively conveying this expectation through action. Action looks like establishing clear policies that are documented in written form and articulating active practices that shows support of inclusivity. Additionally, tangible efforts include implementing culturally responsive programs, equitable access to resources, and training experiences for respectful interactions and communication between those of similar and different backgrounds and experiences. Employing these strategies in a multifaceted approach creates safe spaces for all campus parties to feel valued, supported, and encouraged to thrive.
How has higher education administration evolved in response to global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic?
Global challenges have allowed institutions to evolve and embrace change while adapting to new realities for academic delivery modality, student support, and operational success. COVID-19 showed us first-hand that we can embrace change through expanding access to education and approaching student engagement and support with innovative opportunities and communication methods. Institutions now offer hybrid and virtual academic programs, implement holistic student wellness initiatives through telehealth, and pursue diverse revenue streams. Global challenges have reshaped how institutions operate, pushing them to remain forward-thinking and more student-centered than ever before.
What trends do you believe will shape the future of student affairs and institutional leadership?
The future of student affairs and institutional leadership is bright. It will be critical for student affairs professionals and institutional leaders to evaluate their position in the landscape and how they can utilize their current positions and institutional strengths to propel the institution into the future. This can happen through the exploration of public private partnerships for housing construction and technology focused engagement to enhance overall student success. Additionally, with the onset of the enrollment cliff and number of available degree-seeking students, we must remain focused on possibilities for sustainability through retention efforts. We must keep the students we have while focusing on new academic programs that are innovative and marketable in order to attract new students. Lastly, but certainly not least we must be adaptive to the needs of students and expand mental health services to further develop and support the whole student.
How can universities better prepare students for an evolving job market and workforce demands?
As workforce demands change our curriculum must change to align to industry needs. We must move to have more opportunities for micro-credentialing and certifications to enhance employability. We must provide work-based learning through internships, co-ops and service learning so that students have direct and hands-on engagement with industry practitioners. We must look to career services to provide industry focused career coaching and soft skills training alongside mentorship with industry leaders. Additionally, we must ready our students with career-related development and services to articulate their abilities and secure jobs within their chosen path. While we are in the age of artificial intelligence, we must teach our students how artificial intelligence works while yet still equipping them to operate and work in “robot proof” jobs, that cannot be duplicated by machinery and automation.