Shawnta Friday-Stroud served as dean of SBI since 2010
Photo credit:Knight Creative Communities Institute
In the midst of yet another controversy on the campus of Florida A&M University, a new vice president of university advancement has been named.
George Cotton resigned from his position as vice president of university advancement after months of speculation and a severed relationship with school officials.
School of Business and Industry Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud has been named as interim vice president in Cotton’s place. It’s a position she hadn’t planned on taking over.
“When the president of the university asks you to do something, you have to be ready to step up,” Friday-Stroud said.
The new interim Vice President’s resume proves that she was, and is ready to step up. The former dean of SBI had served the school since the beginning of the decade in 2010.
That kind of tenure hasn’t been all that common around the university in recent years.
Friday-Stroud has played a major role in forming relationships that result in large funds given to the school. Partnerships with Eli Lilly, Ford, and donations from John Thompson, chairman of Microsoft are just some of the few crucial bridges she has been able to build for students. Friday-Stroud believes that experience in SBI will help translate over to her new role as vice president of university advancement.
“I think it’ll definitely provide me with a foundation to do that for the university on a wide level scale,” Friday-Stroud explained.
Although she is confident some of her dean of SBI traits will work well as Vice President, she knows there is room for growth.
“Although I’m very familiar with what goes on at FAMU, I can sell SBI because I live and breathe SBI. Now I’ll have to expand to make sure I can do that for all areas across the campus,” Friday-Stroud said. “We’ve got to make sure that processes and procedures are being put into place to help all the other units on campus reach their goals.”
As the university searches for a permanent vice president of university advancement, Shawnta Friday-Stroud is sure to be on the list of candidates if she wants the job.