Stark State College President Dr. Para Jones is modeling what it means to lead with care, demonstrating the importance of leadership buy-in to Caring Campus by connecting with students, empowering staff and faculty, and embodying the college’s mission of student success.
“We recognize that success is about academics, but also about helping students feel they belong,” Jones said. “Caring Campus aligns perfectly with those values and ensures we are focused on intentional behaviors that strengthen connections with students.”
Jones regularly engages with students across campus, learning about their goals, challenges, and aspirations. In one recent conversation, she connected a student pursuing an accounting career with academic resources, professional opportunities, and a more efficient degree pathway – demonstrating how simple interactions can have a meaningful impact.
“I think it’s imperative that all faculty, staff, and students see the president engaging in these same caring commitments and embracing the values of Caring Campus,” Jones said.
In recent years, Stark State has seen improvements in course completion, retention, and graduation rates, including a three-year graduation rate of 31%, up from less than 10% when Jones became president in 2012.
“Caring Campus is just part of the way we operate and do business at Stark State,” Jones said. “It really resonated with me because Caring Campus is all about people, and education is really about people too. It takes all of us working together to deliver the best we can.”
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