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Students at ��Ӱֱ�� State College learn hands-on in their classes and labs, so it is fitting that Carrie Cokely, PhD and Vice President for Academic Affairs, did the same during her first year on the job.

“I think our faculty shine in the classroom, so I wanted to see them when they were at their best, doing what they love to do with our students. I also think my style is to build relationships and learn by doing so I liked going into the labs and doing what the students were doing and experience what they were experiencing in class.”

Cokely joined ��Ӱֱ�� State in July of 2023 after serving over fifteen years at Curry College, a private liberal arts school seven miles from downtown Boston. She received multiple promotions moving from assistant professor to associate provost.

Early in the 2023-24 school year, Cokely requested faculty members to invite her into their classrooms and labs. “I started a program called Teach the Veep. One of the things I was excited about coming to ��Ӱֱ�� was the range of two-year and four-year programs and the wide variety of things our students get to do in terms of hands-on learning in our classrooms and labs.”

Cokely started visiting classrooms on day one of the school year and did not stop. Her experiences took her to hands-on opportunities in each of the college’s three schools, the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Architecture: Management & Engineering Technology, and the School of Applied Technology.

“The three components of the strategic plan are woven into our classes and into the initiatives to bring students to campus to make sure that they're successful. It is woven into how we work with faculty and staff on campus, and I think that is unique to ��Ӱֱ�� State. So many colleges have a strategic plan that might sit on the shelf, but ours is in action every day.”