Matt Harmon: On this episode of Monmouth weekly, the fall 2021 semester is up and going and Monmouth welcomed in a brand new provost at the start of the academic year. We've got a great opportunity to catch up with Dr. Pamela Scott Johnson with university president. This is faculty member, Matt Horman it's time for episode number 34. Thanks as always for listening Matt Harmon: While semester is up and going. It's a beautiful Thursday. As we record episode number 34 of mammoth weekly. The third week of the semester, it is absolutely already, uh, flying by as we kind of hit the late part of September, really looking forward to being back on the air. We've been, uh, off for the last couple of weeks busy time, obviously to get the semester up and going university president Patrick Lehe, I'm faculty member, Matt Harmon. Uh, we're gonna dig in today to one of the new hires during the course of the, uh, beginning part of the academic year hired at the end of last, uh, term. And now starting in August, that is provost Dr. Pamela Scott Johnson. We'll get into that in just a second. President Lehe. I say a very good morning to you really impressed right off the jump as you and I can see each other. You've got the protein drink. You're ready to go. I, I feel like this episode, you're, you're more focused than ever. I love it. Patrick Leahy: wait. It took us 34 episodes to get me the most focused. Uh, so Matt Harmon: Notice, I didn't say you're not focused in the other 33. I said most focused here in episode 34. And probably because we've got the top person on the education side for Mamo, you gotta be sharp today. There's a little bit of, yeah, Patrick Leahy: I got, I have to be on my game today, uh, for sure to impress our new provost, but, uh, uh, the energy level is, uh, sky high at Mammouth right now, Matt. I mean that, and, uh, I'm, I'm gonna bring it, uh, to the extent that I can because, uh, there's just so many positive things happening, happening at our university right now, especially, you know, given the still challenging environment in which we find ourselves. Matt Harmon: Yeah. Clearly COVID continues to be an issue, but I will say as a faculty member and someone who, who teaches in different buildings, who is there obviously four, four days a week, it has been such a pleasure to walk around the campus and see people walking around the campus. And I don't really know any other way to say it because there is a little bit of life. No, it's not what it was pre COVID, but it is definitely much, much different than it was a year ago. And, and I know that was part of the, the idea, like, let, let's try to get back to some sort of normal, even if it's not the normal that we once knew. Patrick Leahy: I mean, yesterday on campus, of course it was in the afternoon, a beautiful afternoon. It was taming with, uh, activity and people. It was, uh, between our current students and then all, all kinds of groups of prospective students, uh, checking out Monmouth. So we are, I think back to, uh, a much greater sense of normal. Um, we are fully reopened as we've talked about before our, uh, most of our classes are in person and I'm so grateful to our faculty for, for, um, for bringing it in the classroom. Uh, this fall, our residence halls are oversubscribed. Uh, frankly at this point, um, you know, we're staying masked up indoors, which we've talked about in, in the previous episode, just as an added layer of precaution, that is the prevailing public health guidance. And, uh, we're gonna continue to follow it, uh, both in Monmouth county and across the state and through the CDC, but, um, uh, all things considered, I think we feel very positive about the way in which the fall semester, uh, has started Matt Harmon: COVID numbers, always something that you're keeping an eye on. And, and to my knowledge, as of even this morning, COVID numbers relatively are pretty good across campus. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I mean, we have a few cases and we always say, you know, any individual case, you just don't know how it's gonna unfold. So, um, you know, that's caused for some concern, any case, but the case numbers are low. It seems like, uh, you know, the symptoms are, are fairly mild, uh, for those positive cases that we do have because our campus community is as highly vaccinated as it is, uh, 94% of our faculty and staff, 84%, I think of our student body as a whole, that makes it a lot more manageable because, uh, as you do the contact tracing, if you're fully vaccinated, you don't have to worry about, uh, quarantining. So, um, not out of the woods entirely by any stretch, but, uh, I do feel like our protocols, uh, this fall are working Matt Harmon: Last one before we bring in our, our guest for today on Monmouth weekly. Um, I know near and dear to your heart, to mine as well. It's what I, it's what I teach. It's what I broadcast. Some of the athletic programs on campus Monmouth off to great starts, um, have had so much fun interacting with some of the students within the classroom about that. I saw you yesterday, a surprise guest at the men's soccer practice, right? Patrick Leahy: I was here. I am inserting myself again into the, uh, into the, uh, athletic teams. I, I, I've tried to make a commitment to get around to all the, all the teams this year, just to welcome them back to campus, tell 'em how pleased we are that, uh, we can have our athletic programs in their normal seasons and just to wish them well, uh, as the, uh, in particular conference play, uh, begins, you know, I I'm particularly proud of a couple things. If I may, Matt one is, you know, our football team, no surprises off to a great start. They play holy cross on Saturday. What a great matchup that'll be the favorite to win the Patriot league and the favorite to win the big south squaring off. But they're, they're the number 20th ranked team in the country right now we have designs of course, on punching that up over the course of the season. Patrick Leahy: But the thing that I'm so proud of is the fact that there's only one private institution ranked ahead of us only one and that's Villanova. So I, I, you know, how particular I am about how, how proud I am that the PRI a smaller private institution can compete against these much bigger public institutions and these much better known private institutions. So I'm really proud about that. And then field hockey is also, uh, ranked nationally as you, as you know, and, um, there are a lot of private schools ranked ahead of us in that, uh, poll, but listen to some of the names of the private schools ranked ahead of us. Maybe you've heard of them, Matt Northwestern, Boston college, um, Syracuse, Harvard, wake forest, Princeton, duke, you get the idea. I mean, we're competing, uh, in athletics with, uh, the best of the best across the country. And that makes me really proud Matt Harmon: Love when the competitive side of your personality comes out. I hear it in your voice. I know there's so much more that you wanna say, but you hold back just a little bit. I would, I would say this and then, and then we'll, we'll kind of move into the, the crux of our episode today. Next time we get to a practice, can we get outfitted? Can we get some cleats on, can we get a uniform? I mean, I know you have other things that you need to do on campus, but if you're gonna step outside the realm and enter the field of competition, I, I do think you need to be outfitted properly. Patrick Leahy: I, I wore my dress shoes, uh, by design so that they would not entice me to try to kick a soccer ball. That that would not be a great image, uh, for our university. Um, so Matt Harmon: All right, well said, fair enough. Let's, uh, let's hop in as, um, we're, we're in the midst of episode 34 of mammoth weekly, it is essentially our biweekly series that we keep you updated on everything. Um, campus related, pulled up an email from April 9th, came at 1257, uh, PM last semester from president Lehe, going to the entire Monmouth university community about the hiring of Pamela Scott Johnson, uh, Dr. Pamela Scott Johnson, who has now become the new provost. And I pulled it up because I, I was interested to know from April to August, um, that transition period, which is so unique and so important for Monmouth with a new provost, Dr. Scott Johnson. Thank you so much for joining us here this morning. Um, really looking forward to spending some time and, and talking to you. I, I do hope that you have made the transition as you are in California from one coast to the next, and you have started to enjoy what New Jersey has to offer, though. I know you do have a little bit of New Jersey in your educational background, Pamela Scott-Johnson: A AB absolutely. I'm a BI coastal person, and I actually hung out on both coasts. So I've hung out in the Pacific and now I got the Atlantic again. So it's been a great transition, um, especially remembering that I'm in the middle of being in a human area. You know, I like heat. So anything above 90 is good, although I'll say 120 is a bit much, but, uh, so my 114 degree heat with no humidity. Okay. So I traded it for 90 degrees with the little humidity I, so I feel at home Matt Harmon: We'll, we'll, we'll definitely gauge over the course of, let's say the next 25 minutes or so, who has the best pizza where the best bagel is? Have you figured out those stops as you come back to New Jersey, because those things are really important. That's number one, but number two, you have made a transition here as the provost now of Monmouth during maybe one of the most, or I think some could say the most challenging time in education because of COVID because of enrollment issues that plague every school across the country. Um, you had served as Dean of the college of natural and social sciences at Cal state university in Los Angeles. So you're, you're used to a lot of students, you move from that public university to a private university. If you don't mind me asking, what's maybe been one of the unique challenges in the first couple of months of the job that you faced here at Monmouth. Pamela Scott-Johnson: I think the ways that, which we articulate processes, you know, in a public school system at a public university with, um, 23 campuses in a strong union, the ways in which our policies and practices are articulated, you know, you can find 'em on the web, you have a dozen people, you have a booklet, and there are 22 other people that you can confer with. So I think that, that, uh, articulated process that it's also has a legislative overlay in that, uh, is probably one of those differences. Um, but I think the other thing that is common is the way in which people want to make sure that their students are successful, uh, that we use processes that help us understand in a collective way how to get there. Uh, I think their differences also just in, in terms of the students that are part of the campus, but the ways in which we need, need to prepare them for the future is what we have in common. So I've been kind of weighing those things in my own Matt Harmon: Mind. D definitely want to get back to that, want to bring, uh, president Lehe in here. I, I know this search from a national search yielded, some probably, excuse me, amazing candidates. Um, when, when you narrowed it down, president Lehe, what was it about provost Scott Johnson, Dr. Scott Johnson that led you to believe that she is the person from an academic standpoint that can take mama and you and I have talked about this so many times take mama from where it is now to where it can be over the next five, 10 fill the number of years. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I mean, it wasn't, it was a decidedly national search. I mean, the fact that we ended up with a candidate from LA should prove that, I mean, we, we went out aggressively nationwide. We had, I don't know, a hundred applicants, which is heartening to know that that many people are interested in coming to Monmouth. Um, and, uh, it was a rigorous, as Pam can tell you, it was a, you know, a rigorous process, even though it was, uh, conducted a hundred percent remotely given the, um, you know, the challenges of the pandemic. We decided nonetheless, to go ahead with the search and in the end, uh, it was very clear to me. We had some really good finalists. I, you know, I, I, I credit all of the finalists, but in the end it was very clear to me that, uh, Pam really, you know, at the risk of embarrassing her, uh, possesses three things, you know, number one, she is a serious academic, just look at her academic credentials, which I know you'll talk about in a minute. Um, her experience, um, first in a corporate setting and then, uh, in an academic setting, uh, she is a serious academic, and I've always said that because, you know, my background is not the traditional sort of, uh, academic background, my experience as you well know, Matt has been a hundred percent administrative. It is so important that our senior vice president and provost be, uh, highly, highly academically credentialed. So number one, she has that number two, she has substantial experience as an administrator. I mean, you mentioned it yourself, the school that she ran at Cal state LA serves more students than mom at university does or just about the same number of students. Uh, so even though Pam has never served as a chief academic officer before, we felt very comfortable that she had great experience there, great experience at, at Morgan state and would come, uh, here and bring that experience that we want. And then thirdly, and maybe, uh, equally important to those other two is, um, is just her personality and, and, and her style that, uh, we think is gonna work extremely well here at Monmouth. And all you need to do is get to know her a little bit to realize that she will bring the energy and the enthusiasm and the commitment to student success. That is, uh, what we seek. So you put the three of those things together. And to me, it's like a home run, uh, hire, Matt Harmon: Let, let's talk a little bit about the background of our new provost, uh, president Lehe. You mentioned some of her stops along the way. She started as a faculty member at her Alma mater at Spelman, uh, 15 years at Morgan state before going to Cal state LA. And I had mentioned kind of, as we, as we brought you in, you have a great connection to the state of New Jersey getting both your master's and your PhD, uh, at Princeton. H how, how is it all dare I say, come together for you. You think of all the stops along the way. Um, and, and this being the first opportunity that you have to kind of oversee all of the academics. Have you picked up a little bit from each stop along the way? Pamela Scott-Johnson: Well, I I'd have to say I've picked up, um, a lot of that because both of my parents were school teachers. Uh, my, my mother was the head of the South Carolina education association. So that's the teacher's union in South Carolina. And I used to go to meetings with her. She also taught, you know, um, what used to be called night school. And, and so she had a bit of a organizational bug, you know, she always taught us about going to meetings with agendas. And I was actually the student president of, of, uh, teachers. It was, it was called SAE students, students for action in education when I was in high school. So I really learned that kind of organizational leadership from a mother who was very active in the community. Uh, my father was a coach and, uh, he also taught psychology. His students used to say, well, Mr. Scott, you teach psychology, but your daughter uses more psychology on youth than you teach in the classroom. So I would have to say, and then my, my, uh, great aunt was the Sunday school superintendent, but she was also the mathematics chair in the middle school. And this was during a time of kind of integration. So I, I would say that organizational framework came from a family that was very involved. And then when I went to college, I was actually, um, freshman rep sophomore class president. And I was actually student government and I interacted a lot with Donald Stewart, who was the president at the time he's passed. And, you know, he started, uh, a lot of opportunities for young women who were coming into their own. So I, I would say a, a family that was highly engaged, a father who used to say, I'm gonna gonna teach you these things, even though you're a girl, cuz I grew up in a very provincial and, and somewhat, um, socially conservative, but religious in framework, um, a group of people. And then from, from Spelman, I went to Princeton and Dr. Stewart gave me the board of trustees members. So UL Johnson and Sally McAlpin, he sent a letter of introduction, uh, for me there. And then I left Princeton and I worked for craft foods. And then I decided that working in a corporate environment, uh, after getting married and having children was not in, uh, not how I wanted to to be. And so I came back to my Alma mater who, who sought me out to, to bring neuroscience, uh, there. And then as I started to participate as a faculty member understood that leadership matters and that articulating clearly what was going to be new in the academy. I thought I had an opportunity and I thought I had a voice in that. And I would, I've always been grateful for people who've given me that opportunity and the mentorship to be able to do that. So along each of those, um, spaces, uh, I've had the, had the, the mentorship, the tutelage, and just really been blessed by people. Who've allowed me to be myself. Who've helped me temper a little bit about myself, but you know, I'm still tempering. Um, but it, it allows me to continue to think about what is important, what matters. And I think, um, GI giving me a voice, uh, which is really so critical for me is making sure that people have a voice toward the common and when they're not part of that common voice and giving them the wherewithal to create a space for their individual voice. Matt Harmon: Take me, take me a little deeper, if you can, into the idea of working as a faculty member and some of those experiences that you had, uh, at Spelman at Morgan state moving more to the administrative level at Cal state. But, but as an educator and someone who was in the classroom, um, the challenges that you went through that you can now articulate to the faculty here at Monmouth and help them deal with some of the issues that might be in education today. Pamela Scott-Johnson: Yeah. I, I, I love that question because I of, I often think about things from a faculty perspective, but as an administrator, it is the, it is the Eagle or the Hawks lens of looking down, uh, into that. So as a faculty member at Spelman, I left a corporate environment. So there were a couple of things that I thought were going to be important. How do I teach, how do I understand pedagogy? How do I, I understand how to work with the students and to articulate my expectations in a way that would allow young people who were developing to understand and mirror those. So there were two things that really helped me, the fact that there was, uh, somewhat informal, uh, uh, a program of mentor. So I would come out of a classroom having had some really challenging times and fussy students. And I would go into my, uh, colleagues' office. I had two, two colleagues, uh, Meyer Burnett, and, um, uh, uh, Dr. Williams, I can't think of his first con Conrad Williams who sits past and I would go and I would cry in their office and they would say, okay, you have 15 minutes for the whole semester to cry and whine about what's happening. And so they would, they would say, okay, you've used up two of your minutes, but in that time they would say, well, here's a process I use in class. Here's something that would help here's here is what I could do. I also participated in a national organization called project kaleidoscope at, during that time, people were trying to articulate why is it that we are so illiterate from a scientific standpoint and, and had been really involved in that national conversation around science education? You know, what are our expectations when we send, when we prepare teachers to go into the high school and middle school, when they've only had one class of chemistry or one class of biology, and then people can't read maths or read, you know, um, uh, metrics. And so how do so I, I actually had, you know, colleagues that mentored me that helped me. It was also the, uh, Carnegie started to establish, um, uh, uh, the scholarship of teaching. So Spelman would send faculty to that and then project kaleidoscope would have meetings on the weekends and the, the way they were run was what works. It wasn't just to come and take a bunch of notes and put 'em on the shelf. It's at the, at the end of the meeting, it was, you wrote up, what are you gonna do on Monday morning to improve your classrooms? What are you gonna do on Tuesday to hear how students, um, to, to bridge the gap between what students are doing and your expectations. So I did that. And then, you know, I, then we also had a much clearly articulated tenure process. And so on that tenure process with someone in your department, someone in your unit who may not be a psychologist, but in that unit that would help translate, okay, so I'm in English and this is how I'm gonna look at your process and helping the faculty put together their portfolios. And all of that made the difference for me as a person who takes very seriously pedagogy and the articulated ways in which we have to set up good teaching practices so that students can learn. And then as a psychologist, you know, psychology is a very assessment oriented feel. And so the ways we look at, at, at, at, uh, um, our practices and my area is neuroscience, but I work with people who are clinicians and those in social psychology, in statistics and cognitive psychology. So we're very assessment oriented, but all of that helped me really get serious about the practice of teaching. And then I also interacted with the number of colleagues in the field of education, cuz they're the pedagogy wants, you know, when you're trying to help people from K through 12, you know, understand how students learn and, and God bless, you know, K through 12 teachers because my parents, uh, used to sign me up to, to be a substitute teacher during the summer. And you know, I did first grade twice and I promise you, I will never be a first grade teacher I don't, I don't have the patience, but all of that helped me not only grow as an academic, uh, person serious about teaching, but also, I mean, I have neuroscience, chemical senses. My colleagues in those arenas helped me translate, which what that, which was proprietary to companies, uh, into a practice of, of, you know, you gotta get it out, you gotta get it published. How do you write a grant? How do you write, uh, a paper? And so I think mentoring matters, um, and mentoring at all levels matter. And it's not just, you know, how do we get in a corner and complain about, you know, who didn't do what for us, it's on us individually to be the best practitioners that we can. But I think it's on us as a community to ensure that people have access to that. Matt Harmon: I think president Lehe and I say, every morning, God bless teachers that are, I'm gonna even narrow it six through 12 as he has two in that age bracket. And I have two in that age bracket, it is no easy, uh, time to be in education. Doesn't matter what you do. Such a great answer there. Um, provost, Scott Johnson, without question president Lehe, you know, listening to that answer. There's, there's no doubt now that as I hear it, it was almost an easy grab for Monmouth to get someone who can articulate so many things, um, on a level and have the experiences in a short amount of time that provost Scott Johnson has had. Patrick Leahy: I mean, I just, I think, I think Pamela brings that commitment to student success. That is, that is I think, uh, the, the ethos here at, at Monmouth. But what I love about it is that this, this, this hunger that I hear in, in her statements around constantly improving the student experience in the classroom and how faculty members can continue. I don't care if you've been teaching for five years or 50 years continually look at, are we delivering the pedagogy the way we need to, to get students to learn today and, and students interests and patterns and all that are changing over time. And I mean, we must make sure that, uh, all of us, I'm not just saying our faculty, but all of us here at the academy who are committing our lives to this work are, are open to changing and adapting to ensure that we are delivering for students today. And I think Pam has so much to work with at Monmouth because there is a deep abiding commitment to students success here. I firmly believe that, but if, if she can help to foster even greater, uh, development, uh, among all of us, uh, I think that that, that will red down so positively to the student experience at a time where we have to constantly strengthen our, our, our value proposition and it really competitive market. So I'm, I'm just so pleased to have somebody who's that committed to, to the classroom and what happens in the classroom as well as, uh, Pam, I think will tell you that it's really important for faculty to have the, the space and the support to do their own scholarship and research and keeps them current in their field. That that new knowledge, uh, is shared in the classroom with students. So that's an important part of it, uh, as well. And that's why I said Pam's such a great hire because she brings both, uh, you know, that record of achievement in the classroom and that record of scholarship, you know, outside the classroom. So, uh, just so comforting for me to have a partner in Pamela. I mean, remember Matt, you know, when I arrived here, I elevated this position to the senior vice president, no disrespect to the other vice presidents. They all do incredible work here, but at an academic institution, the number two person on your chart in my opinion, should be the provost. And I wanna make it clear to everybody that Pam was the number two person on your chart. Um, I often say though that while she's the number two person, she might be the most important job on a college campus. Well, and only a president, I think can say that otherwise it doesn't look very good, but the reason I say that is if Pamela does her job really well, that frees me up to add value to the university in the ways that I think I can add value, uh, the most. So it's really a partnership. I, and I couldn't be more pleased to, to partner up with Pam in the years to come Matt Harmon: Well, interesting that you mentioned that it might be the most important position, uh, on the campus in a lot of ways. I know in a recent, uh, article from New Jersey business, both you and Patrick Murray were named as part of the top 50 in education here within the state and a big reason why was the hiring of Pamela Scott Johnson? So it, it does show, I mean, listen, everybody understands universities are in essence, their own corporation, their own business, but the main idea is to educate and to get students prepared for success later in life. So to your point, president Lehe, if it's without a top person in the provost level at, at some level, that's not gonna work. And, and that's not the case here with this most recent hire, Patrick Leahy: You know, in my career, Matt, I've worked at places where, um, it wasn't clear that the, the, the, the, the provost or the, you know, the chief academic officer was the number two person. And I always said to myself, you know, if I ever have a chance to run a university, I'm gonna establish that, that bottle. And so at Wilkes, the first decision I made at Wilkes was I elevated the provost to senior vice president. One of the first decisions I made here at Monmouth was to elevate the senior vice or the provost to senior vice president. And, um, I just think it sends an important message to our key constituents that, uh, we are an academic institution as proud as we are of all the related things that we do at this university. The heart of the matter is what happens in the classroom and in, and in labs and in other sort of teaching spaces, you know, and, uh, we just need to make that as clear as possible. And one small way I can do that is by elevating this position, uh, to senior vice president, Matt Harmon: Few more minutes here on episode 34 of Monmouth, weekly with my co-host university, president Patrick Lehe faculty member, Matt Harmon, we are joined today by the brand new provost at Monmouth who officially started at the beginning part of August, Dr. Pamela Scott Johnson, um, provost, Scott Johnson. If, if, if I said to you, go back to your answer from earlier talking about the metric of student success, I think that's so important for any academic institution. Monmouth obviously included. How, how is that gauged in today's world? How is student success gauged at a place like Monmouth? Pamela Scott-Johnson: Well, student success really is gauged, uh, from multiple components, right? Are, are your students graduating? Are your students, uh, prepared for the job market? And I know that in liberal arts, um, organizations like ours, as we move to add doctoral programs and have number of master's programs, we have to be clear that students can articulate the skills that will allow them to be successful. Those for which we clearly design, but those for which will allow them to work in teens to be collaborative, to be constantly willing to be learners. And so we just kind of continue to think about that. Are they engaged? How do they look at the communities that are around them? Are we preparing them for leadership roles and not just for positional leadership, but for leadership and ownership and accountability for whatever they are engaged in? Are they active? Do they understand the feedback or are they passive, uh, in, in what they're doing? And so, uh, and are we retaining them? And then if we're retaining those students, how are they engaged internally? And then we can look at the feedback student, give us, give, give to us as faculty members and as an institution. And then that means are they engaged alumni? You know, so that when they, I actually actively, you know, send my contribution to both my undergraduate and graduate, um, because I want people to know that that is important to me. Do they come to us and say, Hey, is Dr. Soandso still there. So will somebody find me and say, Hey, I know Matt Harmon. I had a class from him. So all of those elements, and then you can measure usage of our labs, our tutoring centers, all of the ways in which we support them. How often do they go, what are they getting from that? And I realize that some of the ways in which I am asking people to give me feedback about what they've been doing, um, sometimes seems like I'm questioning their, their integrity. I'm not, but in order for us to be clear about the return on investment that parents have made in us, that we, as employees have made in our institution, we have to know what we've been doing. And we have to determine how we're going to move that so that we can strengthen you can't do that just from a feeling of Goodwill. Um, and maybe that's the business side of me. I know my colleagues sometimes get a little annoyed because that business side of me will ask those kind of questions, but that assessment oriented, I mean, we are accredited institution. And so our accrediting, body's gonna ask us the, the same thing. How are we spending our money? How are we working with our students? And then for faculty, because I also am the advocate of the faculty, what support am I giving to strengthen the scholarship? It's not just release time. You know, um, one of the, one of the positions that we'll, we'll be advertising for, and that we're almost ready to put that out is the grants a contracts person, but that person will provide leadership, not just for areas like mine. Um, I'm a stem person. You can find money, but what about our colleagues in the humanities? You know, are we positioning ourselves to be noticed by the Mellon foundation, which is an invitation only, but also the national endowment for the humanities. And that takes a different skill set for faculty. That's not only not intuitive, but you don't kind of grow up in the academy knowing how to write grants. Although I will say that our larger universities and their graduate programs are actually helping our students prepare in that grant, writing that that's what I think is not only student success, but student success is tied to faculty success and development. When our faculty are unwilling to grow, which is not mama, then our students won't grow. And if we focus on ourselves, as opposed to our collective, then we are limited into perspective because if my whole world consists of me, myself and I, it's a varied limited world. And the judgment about improvement is all subjective and in our head and anything outside of that, we feel it necessary to tear apart because psychologically that's just too jarring. And so that's why you will hear me continue to talk about how we participate in B ontologically in a collective, but the student's success has a direct tie to the faculty success and engagement. And it is, I take very seriously my responsibility and accountability for Asur. The both of that. Now it is also a partnership. So I work closely with colleagues, you know, in the student success realm, because I'm worried about what they're thinking and the content of their, uh, engagement in the classroom. But my colleagues in student success, they're gonna know when those students need to gain access to counseling, or they need exercise both from a formal standpoint or not, or their clubs and organizations developing leadership. So it is the institutional partnership, but I will hold myself accountable for that, which is related directly to the mind in terms of the content. But I know that I can't do that in a me, myself or I either. It is a bridge to the rest of the foundation of the organization. Matt Harmon: Let's finish with, with one question. Uh, and then we'll wrap up with a, with a, a fun comment here or there as we usually do on Monmouth weekly. If, if you were to tell me or tell the Monmouth university community, um, clearly there was a reason that Monmouth was attracted to you. And I, and I get that now over the course of the last 30 something minutes that we've been on the air, what I'd like to know is what attracted you to Monmouth and why you chose a private university that clearly you feel like there's opportunities for growth there's opportunities to move up on the national stage, to implement new programs, to strengthen the programs that are already there. What, what was it, if you, if you don't mind articulating in our last question here that drew you to Monmouth. Pamela Scott-Johnson: So, so you had a very, uh, smart consultant who said, you really gotta look at this. Uh, and, and I know from your personality, you'd really like the president. And so I did, I took a look at both, uh, the portfolio and, uh, the president and I'd like the committee, and I'd like, uh, the opportunity to work and be, uh, a partner with Matt in this arena. And then the, the last way I'll articulate this, and, and this is just my own spiritual, um, uh, way of operating in the world is I always listen to the assignments that God gives me. And I certainly did say, okay, God, this is not in any portfolio I have had. I've worked with, uh, public institutions, been very clear about articulating access for individuals who have been underserved and may come with a different preparation. But I fundamentally believe that education is a game changer. Pamela Scott-Johnson: Why wouldn't I believe that for students who are more economically and socially endowed and a faculty, who's ready to be, um, in the midst of our articulating that. So when we look at our next senators and we look at our next, you know, world class, uh, uh, pollsters, we can say that's a Monmouth grad. And so I had to be inclusive in my own thinking and, um, just get on board with it. But I, I liked everything I saw about it. And I thought, well, yeah, you know, okay, put your money where your mouth is. So I came because I fundamentally like people. And, uh, and that was the assignment God gave me. So I'm here. All right. We excited about it. Matt Harmon: We're, we're gonna finish with a couple of, of, of fun questions that I have, um, dreamt up over the course of the last 30 minutes. I, I know in your, um, biography, basically it talks about being a specialist in smell and taste. When you worked for craft, does that mean you got to sample like the really good Mac and cheese as opposed to what gets put in the box? Pamela Scott-Johnson: Well, I, I, given that I still own stock, I'm not sure I should even answer that question. but, but I will tell you, there's a difference when you're on a taste panel. When you TA, when you take all of the ingredients that go, let's just not make it catch up. When you taste the tomato and it's cooked either 30 minutes, 40 minutes, five minutes, and you taste that flavor profile, and then you add salts. I'm telling you, it, it really is a good job. I like being on the ice cream panel. I like being on the coffee panel. So that's part of it. But I also worked at, uh, off of exit eight a, which was a research because I'm a neuroscientist. So we took all the sugar outta your food. We took all the salt outta your food. We took all the fat outta your food. And, uh, uh, so then you come down to what's grass so you, you gotta build your food pro your profile. The, so it, it, it, it it's, it's great. I mean, I, I loved it. So yes, I can tell you that low sodium craft cheese taste as good as higher sodium content, and it's better for your heart. Matt Harmon: All right. Last one, this is an important one. And I think president Lehe, and I maybe mentioned this on an earlier episode, we were a little concerned that in a couple of weeks, when Princeton comes to Monmouth for an in-state football game, what colors you're going to be wearing, I would imagine you still have a little black and orange hidden somewhere in the closet, but I wanna remind you here now in president Le you can echo this. We are full on blue and white, correct. Orange will not be accepted on October 9th. Pamela Scott-Johnson: Listen, I want you to know that my favorite color is Navy blue . And so this has just given me an opportunity to not be shy and worry about if I'm gonna be in my school colors, cuz I have enough blue and different shades of blue that I will be ready for anything that's publicly viewed to be blue. Notice how I said that. Matt Harmon: Always remember the media is watching the media is watching in a sec. Patrick Leahy: I'm hoping at that game, we could have a ceremonial, uh, sort of cleansing and you know, you could give away to the Princeton folks, any residual Princeton gear you have, uh, Pamela. And, uh, that, that might be an important gesture. So maybe at halftime, Matt, we can, we can do that. Matt Harmon: Should be, uh, should be a lot of fun. Uh, as, as we mention mammoth Princeton with a game at, uh, Monmouth university, uh, coming up in a couple weeks, that will be fun. Um, provost, Scott Johnson really appreciate your time here. I, I, I know weekdays are hard to come by with meetings and the beginning part of the semester, this was fantastic to be able to spend some time with, with you, um, kind of get your view on things and, and your image of what you view the university as out to the university community look forward to, um, in essence, working for you, working with you, um, as my role as a faculty member. And again, thank you so much for your time here this morning. Pamela Scott-Johnson: Really appreciate the invitation. Thank you, ed, pat, Matt Harmon: President Lehe. This was, uh, fantastic, great job of setting this up and I think so very important. I'll give you the last word as I always do. So very important, um, to, to focus on what you said, a partnership that exists between the university side, the, the, the academic side, how they all come together because as you and I have talked about, and I, and listen, I I've been at Monmouth one way or the other since 1993, I still do wholeheartedly believe we are in essence, always tapping in to future potential. Patrick Leahy: No question. It's what Dr. Attracted me to Monmouth. Uh, I think in a similar way that it attracted Pamela, uh, I love her term, uh, collective, cuz that is, that is what we are. We all are committed to, uh, student success. Um, just a couple things about Pam in closing. Number one, I thought you were gonna ask Matt whether she is in fact, a Springsteen fan. She has assured us that she is so that's covered. Um, but uh, you know, we, we designed our strategic plan in advance of hiring our provost. As you might recall. I mean, some, some people might have argued, well, why didn't you just hire your provost first and then let that person help you craft the strategic plan. And we just decided that the, the development of the strategic plan was gonna be a collective effort, uh, and that we would design that plan and then hire into it. Patrick Leahy: And, uh, I think what we were able to do as we completed the strategic plan and, uh, started vetting candidates, uh, to become our next provost. Um, if, if our goals in the strategic plan are all around excellence, access and ambition, uh, which they are, uh, I think we found the perfect person in Pamela Scott Johnson to, to lead our, uh, the academic side of the university throughout the course of that plan. So, uh, again, I hope it's clear how pleased I am, uh, Pam to have you as part of our, our community. So thank you Matt, for again, your continuing interest in this series and for, uh, being such a great host. Matt Harmon: My pleasure as always great episode, look forward to doing it, uh, in the very New York future, we come to a close episode, 34, our thanks to university provost, Dr. Pamela Scott Johnson, university president, my co-host partner, uh, in crime, president Patrick Lehe, I'm faculty member, Matt Harmon, all those behind the scenes who help the scheduling, putting all things together as always. You have any comments you wanna reach out to president Lehi or I, for any information you'd like to hear on a future episode, feel free to reach out to us for more information on what goes on within the Monmouth campus and community go to monmouth.edu. We say so long for episode number 30, four of Monmouth, weekly, weekly.