CoBa Names New Dean

Clock Photo / Jennifer Tepper

The College of Business Administration has just named Robyn E. Parker, Ph.D. a professor of Business and Director of Instruction of the College of Business Administration, Dean of the department. With 25 years of experience in higher education, 15 years of management experience and five years teaching at Plymouth State University, Dr. Parker will be bringing her expertise to the table as she enters her new role. “Whatever I can do for Plymouth State I’m happy to do and the students are the heart and soul and the faculty and staff here are their biggest fans, their biggest supporters and I’m really excited to be a part of the whole thing. It’s wonderful,” said Parker. 

Parker earned her doctorate in Organizational Communication from Wayne State University and her master’s degree in Human Resource Development from Boston University. Throughout her career, she has worked hard to become an expert in conducting needs assessments, communication audits and designing interventions to improve organizational performance in both academic and corporate environments. “One of the things that I think that I bring to the table is that I’ve been at a number of institutions, and what I always say is, I pay attention,” said Parker. “Everywhere you go people do things differently and so the more things you’ve seen, the more you are able to bring in.” 

Dr. Parker became a part of the Plymouth State family when she joined the University faculty in 2010. During her time so far, she has worked on her research, which focuses on the relational effects of new communication technologies in virtual work and educational settings, all the while working her way into the Director of Instruction for the College of Business Administration. “I’ve always been the one who, if I can add value then I want to do that, if there’s something I can do to help,” said Parker. 

The College of Business Administration is a department that stresses they are an applied business program and are dedicated to their students, and in terms of planning. “I do have a lot of ideas about what we might do but the thing that I know about vision is that the leader begins the vision and then that allows the people that are going to bring it to life can then put their stamp on it.” 

This change within the department is going to change the way in which it operates and the communication within that operation, which will be critical in the semesters to come. “For me, I’m very honored that people want me to serve at this particular moment because we are in a tremendous time of change. One of the things that I think helps change is to communicate about it. I think that’s the thing I’m bringing to the table at this particular moment.” 

Plymouth State University welcomes the new Dean of the College Administration and congratulates her on this great achievement. Dr. Robyn Parker will begin her new role on July 1, 2015