Interim president Kathy Schwaig was named the sixth president of Kennesaw State on March 16.
Schwaig has been a part of KSU for nearly 20 years. She started her KSU career in the fall of 2002 as a faculty member and quickly advanced to administrative roles and positions.
Schwaig said that, at the beginning of her career, she was planning to stay in the classroom. She taught courses in IT Audit and Control and Information Systems. However, as her career developed, Schwaig said fantastic opportunities came around that she could not decline.
In 2012, Schwaig was named the dean of Cole’s College of Business. Before her recent nomination as president of KSU, she served as the university’s provost. As provost, Schwaig was in charge of academic affairs and oversaw the deans of different colleges. Schwaig said this position allowed for exceeding development of self-knowledge, growth and a better perspective.
“As provost, I gained a much broader perspective of all the academic units. I started learning about all of the different colleges in great depth,” Schwaig said. “Every college is different; different disciplines interact in different ways.”
Moreover, Schwaig said her role as provost allowed her to work with leadership in other areas of KSU including Student Affairs, Research, Administration and Athletics. A total of 13 vice presidents make up the President’s Cabinet of KSU.
“The context in which I’ve led has always been this institution. It’s always been KSU. I have a real affection for this university,” Schwaig said.
Schwaig has a wide variety of goals she plans to achieve as president of KSU.
Schwaig said former president Pamela Whitten formulated a meticulous, strategic blueprint, The R2 roadmap, to further develop the university, students and staff. This pragmatic roadmap consists of four pillars which include advancing community and culture, enhancing undergraduate educational experiences, growing graduate programs/enrollment and promoting research.
“I have had a front-row seat of witnessing the growth here at KSU,” Schwaig said. “And the growth is not just about size. It’s also about a growth in excellence and, most importantly, a growth in a real focus on how we can better serve our students.”
Schwaig also highlighted the goals of her presidency on an internal and external scale.
“Our goals are to improve graduation rates of our students,” Schwaig said. “We want to create a better experience for students on campus. We also want to have a very intentional enrollment strategy working with both undergraduates and graduates. And we want to raise the financial profile of the institution.”
Dr. Schwaig said the day-to-day duties of being president of KSU include visiting different events both on and off-campus, attending ample meetings with work peers, setting aside time for problem-solving when needed and analyzing opportunities.
For more information regarding President Schwaig and her role at KSU please visit the Office of the President website.
