GCSU announces Dr. Kevin Bucholtz as associate provost for Student Engagement and Academic Excellence

Following a national search, Georgia College & State University announced Dr. Kevin Bucholtz will serve as associate provost for Student Engagement and Academic Excellence effective July 1, 2024.

In his role at Georgia College, Bucholtz will be responsible for the GC Journeys program, as well as overseeing Leadership Programs, the Writing Center, the Rural Studies Institute, the Learning Center, the International Education Center and working with faculty and academic leaders to support, expand and enhance mentored undergraduate research.

“Our university community looks forward to working with Dr. Bucholtz as we continue to focus on student success by advancing our award-winning GC Journeys initiative and by strengthening our academic services,” said Costas Spirou, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

“Dr. Bucholtz brings extensive knowledge and professional experiences that will contribute to furthering our distinct institutional mission,” Dr. Spirou added.

Since 2011, Bucholtz served as director of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity at Mercer University. In that role, he oversaw programs supporting undergraduate student participation in faculty mentored research. Under his leadership, enrollment in research-based courses increased 98% over the past 10 years. Additionally, he managed Breakthroughs in Engagement, Arts and Research (BEAR), a day-long celebration of undergraduate scholarship and worked closely with other administrators in the Southern Conference to launch the inaugural Southern Conference Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF).

Bucholtz also directed the Mercer University Research Scholars (MURS) Training Programs, an annual summer initiative modeled after the NSF REU program, that supports 25-30 students each year to conduct undergraduate research.   

His academic administrative experience includes service as chair of the Department of Chemistry and as founding director of the Chemical Commerce Degree Program in 2014. During his tenure at Mercer, Dr. Bucholtz developed an experiential learning requirement for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education.

Bucholtz holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Rochester, where his research was in bio-organic chemistry. His scholarly interests and publications have been supported by more than $1.6M in external funding, focusing on monitoring corrosion at the atomic and molecular level while working with multiple agencies in the Department of Defense.  

The search committee for the Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Academic Excellence was chaired by Dr. Holley Roberts, associate provost for Academic Affairs and director of the Graduate School and assisted by Tracy Norris, special assistant to the Provost.