7 minute read
Making New Partnerships
Gregory J. Harris, Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement
By Joshua Duke
Dr. Gregory J. Harris has made it his life to build connections. Even his academic background connects disciplines; his many degrees and certificates focus on the interdisciplinary nature of human development and have provided him with a unique perspective throughout his impressive career. In many ways, his background made him the perfect candidate for his next chapter as the Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement for the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.
The Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement has been a position long in the making. Initially conceived in the strategic plan for the College of Education, this new associate dean position represents the College’s priorities to connect with communities near and far. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the creation of this position, but now with the College’s expansion, it became clearer than ever that the time was right, says Damon Andrew, dean of the College.
“We started the conversation about this associate dean position back when we were only considering the needs of the College of Education, and even then, we knew we wanted to deepen our connections with the local community, as well as our in-state and out-of-state partners,” says Andrew. “However, with the expansion of the College, I think we are poised to do even more than foster these connections; I think we can set the standard for how colleges at FSU partner and engage, and I believe Greg is the person to do it.”
Harris will serve on the Dean’s Leadership Team, where his years of experience will help guide the overall direction of the College. As the first Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement, he will also have the task of setting precedent for the position, as well as long term goals.
A Life of Partnerships
This new beginning for both Harris and the College is yet another exciting chapter in his life. “I am most excited about the potential synergy and collaboration of all the disciplines that comprise the expanded College, and its likelihood of enriching the academic lives and futures of our faculty and students,” says Harris.
Despite being a familiar face on FSU’s campus, Harris sees his career as bridging the space between academia and the community. “My career started out with one foot in the university as an adjunct and the other in the community through nonprofit organizations. I worked directly with stakeholders in the community, very common folk from the community, my neighbors, all the way up to folks in the sheriff’s office and on school boards, so I’ve been building partnerships all my career,” says Harris.
That career has spanned four decades in Tallahassee. He arrived in 1983 as a freshman at FSU, and two major developments shaped his life as he began his studies. Sadly, Harris’s mother passed away during his sophomore year. Harris says that her passing made him consider where he would call home after he finished his undergraduate degree; originally, his plan was to return to his hometown of St. Petersburg and attend the University of South Florida for graduate studies. With her unfortunate passing, he did not feel the call to return home.
Then, the second event changed his definition of home. Around the same time of his mother’s passing, he met the woman who would later become his wife, Toletha. Toletha—or Ms. Tee as she is affectionately known—studied finance, and the two met through mutual friends and hit it off quickly. Suddenly, Tallahassee felt a lot like home.
Never Bored
After graduating from FSU, Harris earned his master’s of social science at Florida A&M University where he would later work. His role at FAMU included teaching in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Eventually, he became the co-director and later a director of the Juvenile Justice Institute.
At the same time, Harris deepened his relationship with FSU, where he would often return as a visiting lecturer. In between his professional obligations, he would also volunteer with local organizations. With all of these activities, it is even more impressive that Harris finished his Ph.D. at FSU in 2009 and later earned a master’s in criminal justice from Boston University.
Harris jokes that he has always had two or three jobs at the same time. “I’ve never been afraid of hard work or challenges or doing multiple things,” Harris says. “Actually, I get bored if I’m only doing one thing.”
As he grew older, his responsibilities increased, and eventually he became an Associate Teaching Professor and an Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Health and Human Sciences, a position he held from 2011 until 2023. At FSU, he focused his research on family dynamics and interactions, as well as inequities in the psycho-social health of ethnically diverse families. His particular interest concerns mid-life to older populations. Additionally, he studies a variety of topics in the context of family and community, such as substance abuse, mental health, stress, and disease prevention.
Harris remarks that the work he and his colleagues have done over the years in the department of Human Development and Family Science encompasses the whole span of a human life. “I really don’t think you can talk about who people are, their development, unless you understand the developmental process and all the different factors that are involved in the growth of a person,” he says. His interest in families gives him a different perspective as he interacts with people around him. “When I’m speaking to you, I’m giving you a little bit of my parents, I’m giving you a little bit of my background, my siblings. You are meeting my family through me, and vice versa.”
While conducting his research and teaching certainly comprised a significant portion of his daily routine, Harris made it a priority to help ensure students achieved their academic goals at FSU. He served as the Director of the Center for Academic Advising and Student Success in the College of Health and Human Sciences, and in his role, he worked directly with FSU students.
On top of all of these roles, Harris also spent time working with nonprofits. In particular, he offered evaluation services and grant writing skills to a variety of state, federal, and private foundations. When he wasn’t doing any of the aforementioned responsibilities, he was working on his most recent textbooks, A Handbook on Aging: A Multidisciplinary Perspective with Critical Readings, which he edited, and Family Stress, Coping, and Resilience: Challenges and Experiences of Modern Families.
Bringing It All Together
Throughout all of these years and the many hats he has worn, Harris has made connections throughout the community, the state, and his field of research. While he never anticipated calling Tallahassee his home, the roots he has grown here have stretched to nearly all parts of the community. Indeed, it is not uncommon for Harris to walk into a room and exchange friendly words with individuals from the area.
His interpersonal skills, his interest in people, his ties to the community, his desire to grow and help others do the same, his tireless work ethic, and his commitment to education—all of these attributes will serve him in his new role. Indeed, the precedents that he will set as the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences’ first Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement will be undeniably high just by virtue of being set by someone with such a robust background. For now, Harris is ready for this next chapter in his career and to be a part of something new. “I know that this position will allow me to talk with people from a variety of backgrounds, and then find out that magic connection that will help expand our new College. That’s really what I’m excited about.”
