One year later with acting provost Ani Yazedjian

Image provided by Illinois State University

NORMAL, Ill. – Over a year ago, Ani Yazedjian, Ph.D., stepped into her newest role as acting provost of Illinois State University. Her term is said to be for 17 months. Despite having a date for when her assignment will end, she plans to continue the work she was involved in as associate provost. 

Yazedjian previously was at Texas State University for ten years as a faculty member and one as a Presidential Fellow. Later, she accepted a position at ISU as the department chair of Faculty and Consumer Sciences in 2013. 

In January 2019, she became associate provost under Interim President Aondover Tarhule. Now, as acting provost, Yazedjian continues to add to her list of accomplishments. 

Most notable is the addition of ISU’s College of Engineering, an interdisciplinary major for Data Science to take classes from 3 different colleges and an institutional accreditation study on ISU. She focuses on improving all the university’s educational aspects, including those for students, faculty and staff. 

A current project that Yazedjian is working on is finalizing the Dean of Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts search.

“We’ve had candidates on campus the last 2 weeks, and hopefully we’ll make an announcement soon,” said Yazedjian.

As for programs, Yazedjian has recently gotten approval to transition the program in Creative Technologies from the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts into a stand-alone school.

“We think it will help continue to grow enrollment and meet the demands there,” she said. “The 3 degree proposals for engineering were approved, which means that we can start advertising and recruiting students,” she said.

She also said that she hopes students for engineering programs in Fall of 2025.

As far as other schools are concerned, The School of Engineering building is in the design process right now. The Dean began duties in April 2023, and 6 new faculty members were hired to perfect the curriculum. 

Also, an undergraduate degree in Sports Communication,  Data Science and a master’s in Physics are all being reviewed. She plans to continue growing online graduate certificate options for adult learners.

Enrollment has increased in the College of Nursing after expanding the new simulation lab.

“In exciting news, we opened a new site in partnership with Memorial Health in Springfield to serve 36 additional students,” said Yazedjian.

The Springfield site is specifically for transfer students or those in their junior and senior years. 

As provost, she said she hopes to keep making meaningful changes and improvements so that ISU can continue to be great for faculty, staff and students. 

Her position has many positives, but, according to her, one in particular is being able to work with people from across different divisions to have a positive impact on the university.

According to Yazedjian, has always been the type to make things happen, and this position allows her to make a difference in people’s lives.

“This role is a good fit for me because what I want to do is remove barriers and do things that people don’t notice because it’s not there anymore,” she said. 

For example, Yazedjian renovated the maps located on The Quad.

“I found the map hard to read and very confusing,” she said. “When I became provost, I realized I can do something about that map!” 

Yazedjian elaborated on why she finds joy in renovating the map, as it helps visitors to feel more welcome and comfortable on campus.

“To others it seems like a small thing, but I think it’s important because the people who use the map are the people who don’t know ISU,” she said. “It’s there to help visitors and should be easy to understand.”