Photo courtesy of George Brown College
On March 21, the college announced that it would promote Dr. Cory Ross, an individual who has held numerous leadership positions at GBC for the past nearly 15 years, as its Provost. In the announcement, his role is described as the person responsible for “George Brown’s strategy in the areas of academic programming, international, research and work-integrated learning.”
Now this is all good and well, but what exactly does this mean for GBC? What is a Provost, and how does one serve the needs of students? And for heaven’s sake, what is the correct way to pronounce ‘Provost’?
The Dialog team sat down for a chat with Ross, who was happy to answer each of these questions and more.
Who is Dr. Ross?
Ross has an extensive background in developing new curricula, standards of practice for employees in the postsecondary field, partnerships for new research and experiential leaning opportunities and more. His work in college administration eventually brought him to GBC.
Ross seemed to have a connection with the college from the beginning.
“What I can truly say is that there’s tremendous and marvelous talented people here who are dedicated and really care about students,” he said.
He was originally recruited by GBC’s former Vice President Academic to imbue the health sciences programs with a more research-focused agenda. “I had been a guest lecturer in the anatomy department at George Brown, and so I did have a connection and I did know a lot of people here,” he noted.
A well-respected analyst, Ross is a prominent figure in the health sciences, specifically in the field of neuroanatomy, which allowed him to make significant contributions to the creation of the Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences at the Waterfront Campus.
His experiences have collectively allowed him to climb the ranks at GBC from Associate Dean to Vice President Academic, and most recently, Provost.
What is a provost?
According to Ross, the term Provost (pronounced: “proh-voh-st”) has its origins as early as 1066 in the United Kingdom, where it was used to denote someone to “oversee the beginnings of standardization and standards for educational systems.” Permission to initiate a new program, for example, required the permission of the Provost.
This still holds true today to a degree, although the demands of program delivery are much more extensive than they used to be. Now, the role encompasses everything from making sure that a program is meeting accreditation standards to establishing partnerships with other institutions, to envisioning entirely new ways of getting students the practical experience they need.
That’s a big ask. Working alongside a soon-to-be hired Vice President Academic will allow Ross to share the workload, and hone in on certain key objectives. He maintains that, since GBC is only one of five urban colleges in the area, it needs to have a bit of an edge over the others.
Globalizing GBC
One initiative that Ross is particularly passionate about is bringing the exceptional reputation of the college to other areas of the world. “My focus in this position will be gaining global prominence and profile to the international area.”
Ross proposes that the college needs to encourage more ties with the college abroad to allow for new learning opportunities, and to generally bring a global aspect to program delivery given the amount of diversity at the school. He believes that domestic students can learn a great deal from their international counterparts.
To address this, the college initially developed a “cultural competencies” certificate program, which allows students to work and learn while immersed in an unfamiliar society. But the need for globalization doesn’t have to rely on just one program.
Ross envisions that the college can incorporate capstone projects or case studies with an international spin, allowing students to bring their cultural experience to the table so they can teach their peers and professors. He’s a big fan of shifting from a power-based dynamic to an exchange of knowledge between learners and educators, and that everyone has a contribution to make.
Addressing COVID-19
The pandemic has been Ross’ biggest challenge so far.
Decision-making for program delivery has been a collective effort amongst administrators and program directors. This has involved consultations, an assessment of accreditation standards, as well as dipping a few toes into hybrid format through trials so students are able to get hands-on experience. Research has been spearheaded by the Director of Faculty Professional Development and Academic Technology, Dr. Heidi Marsh.
But on the flip side, it has been difficult to preserve the practical education that colleges often boast for international students who are unable to travel overseas due to visa or vaccination issues.
Digital delivery is here to stay whether we like it or not, so figuring out how to make work-integrated learning available for everyone at the same time is what Ross is trying to tackle. It’s a balancing act and will still involve plenty of trial-and-error.
In general, Ross emphasized that the need to be flexible is huge. And in a world where the way that teaching and learning occurs has shifted, meeting the need to adapt will better prepare students for their careers. “We need to evolve and morph and change,” he said.
Ross’ strategy for dealing with roadblocks reflects this – seeking to understand first, educate and communicate with the opposition, and then using those voices to re-build and re-invigorate a plan as many times as need be.
He admits that there will always be dissent and confusion, especially from students who are no doubt having trouble with the uncertainty of how their classes will play out from month-to-month.
“The last two years have been truly chaos,” Ross lamented. But he believes that the choices that have been made so far with respect to COVID protocol have been the right ones. “I know that decisions we make – when I go to sleep at night, I feel good because I think people are safe. Maybe it was the wrong decision, but I know nobody got sick.”
Student engagement
It’s safe to say that the majority of the student body are fairly disengaged from what college administrators do. We asked Ross what he would be doing to maintain transparency and connection with students.
On top of always having his door open for students and engaging with focus groups in the past, the new Vice President Academic will be chosen by a panel of individuals, including the President of the Student Association. “I used to get my inside information from my daughter, but I wanted more than that,” Ross chuckled.
He remarks what his mentor once told him, sticking with him to this day: “You know, Cory? Get behind the eyes of the learner. See what they’re seeing.”
Ross physically got the chance to do this when he sat in on a classroom as a student for the day to understand why so few students were attending a certain educator’s lectures. He had a discussion with them afterwards to improve class delivery.
Although many lecturers are experts in their fields, many of them do not have formal training in teaching – so they may have difficulty keeping students engaged. “They can all read. They have textbooks, they have notes, they have the internet. They came for you,” he says, speaking directly to educators.
Ross recalls facing his own mortality when as a graduate student, he was called to do his first-ever dissection on the brain. While he had been studying it for years, nothing came close to the real thing. “It’s great to see a picture in a book, but make it live for them.”
Looking ahead
Exactly two weeks ago, the college officially became a satellite campus for the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre located at the University of West Indies. Ross is particularly proud of this new amendment given his passion for globalization. “It actually has put George Brown on the map.”
Ross plans to create international missions for those in the health industry and beyond with the new connections that the college has made with the Centre. This could involve outreach to alumni, who he says are the best representatives for the school, to participate in such programs. What better way to help others, have alumni utilize their skills and intrigue potential future students all at the same time?
“Decisions are tough, and they’re not always liked by everybody,” said Ross, thinking back on his long career, and the many sleepless nights following a resolution. Mistakes do happen as well, of course. “We’re not perfect. But we do really care about the students, contrary to popular belief. We do care.”
