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SMSU finalist stresses importance of community, educational excellence

Jayasuriya says his role would include being the ‘face of the university’

Photo by Deb Gau Dr. Kumara Jayasuriya, one of three finalists interviewing for president of SMSU, spoke with local media during a visit to campus on Wednesday.

MARSHALL — The second of three Southwest Minnesota State University presidential finalists said the university is a place with a strong community — one he would like to join.

“In my experience today, I saw this is a very close-knit group,” Dr. Kumara Jayasuriya said of his time on the SMSU campus. “I see that people work closely with each other, collaboratively. I hope I will be fortunate enough to be part of that group.”

Jayasuriya was in Marshall on Wednesday for interviews with university staff, faculty and students. Jayasuriya has served as the provost and vice president of academic affairs, and as a professor of mathematics, at West Virginia State University since 2014. Before that, he served as associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and Purdue University-North Central Campus, and dean of the School of Natural Science and Mathematics at Indiana University East.

Jayasuriya said his vision for SMSU would be for the university to be nationally recognized as a regional campus.

“The way I would get there is through innovative teaching, applied research, and community engagement, and also experiential learning for students,” he said. Focusing on a broader regional service area, and connecting with students, schools and communities in that area will also be important, he said.

Meeting the goals of that vision is something that will take communication with university faculty, staff and students, as well as community members, he said.

“The president needs to lead the conversation,” while still being open to all those groups, Jayasuriya said. “I’m very open to shared governance. I’m not here to come here and force my ideas on people, it will be a communication with all constituents from different areas.”

“I’m not going to come here as the only expert on this campus,” but rather to ask himself how he can be a useful member of the team, Jayasuriya said.

A university president also has a key role to play in connecting with members of the area community.

“I think my role is to be a cheerleader for the university, to be the face of the university,” Jayasuriya said. He would communicate both what is going well at SMSU — including faculty, staff and student achievements — and what the needs of the university are.

Jayasuriya said SMSU also needs to hear from businesses and industries to help meet educational needs.

“Our students, when they graduate, need to go out and find a good career,” and become future leaders, he said. “For them to do that, we need to have cutting-edge programs. We have to have programs that the industries value.”

Jayasuriya said he would want to continue SMSU’s support for programs like agriculture and nursing. Agriculture is vital to the region, while educational programs for health care are growing everywhere, he said.

“That is an area where we can expand,” he said. Jayasuriya said he has had some experience with expanding into health care-related education. West Virginia State University will be offering a nursing degree program starting in August, he said.

Jayasuriya said he appreciated his conversations with SMSU community members on Wednesday. People were being candid about both what they thought the university was doing well, and not so well, he said.

“I am very impressed with what I have seen today,” he said.

Jayasuriya said the most surprising part of his visit has been the weather. While he expected to see snow, he said, “I did not expect to see this much snow.”

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