The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Life is the chief academic and strategy officer for the University. All academic and related units, including the colleges, the library, undergraduate studies, graduate studies, international initiatives, faculty development, academic program development and review, and academic diversity report to the Provost. Additionally, the Provost administers the budgets of these units.
The Provost also provides oversight to special academic programs including the Honors College, the Global-World HIV/AIDS Alliance, Center for Universities Scholars, Richard Wright Center for the Written Word and centralized advising for the first year experience of new students.
The Provost oversees academic and budgetary policy and priorities, ensures the quality of the student body, and maintains an environment for educational excellence through faculty involvement in scholarship and service. In addition, the Provost also has oversight responsibility for issues associated with the recruiting, hiring, retention, and performance of faculty and academic administrators and for the promotion and tenure process at the University.
Since 1877, Jackson State University has been providing young men and women opportunities that will empower them to succeed in an increasingly complex world. As the Urban University of Mississippi, JSU emphasizes public service programs designed to enhance quality of life and seek solutions to urban problems in the physical, social, intellectual, and economic environments.