Academic peers say Eric Barron ready to lead FSU</p>
<p>By Shannon Colavecchio, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: Friday, December 25, 2009 </p>
<p>Over and over again, as a professor and then as an administrator at Penn State, Barron heard the same refrain from parents of prospective students.</p>
<p>“They would tell me they knew this was one of the finest programs in the country, but they were going to send their child to a smaller liberal arts school and pay more because it meant the professors would know their child,” Barron recalled.</p>
<p>So he set out to turn Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences into its own liberal arts school. As dean of the college starting in 2002, he oversaw renovations and changes that remain part of his legacy, according to Penn State professors.</p>
<p>He put in a cozy living room and study area. He added work space and a computer area. He hired chemistry graduate students as tutors to help freshmen and sophomores get through Penn State’s “killer” chemistry prerequisite. He brought in a multicultural adviser.</p>
<p>A freshman seminar course brought students to the college’s revamped student center during their first days on campus, not in their final semesters.</p>
<p>“All of a sudden, you become family. And it started when they were freshmen,” Barron said.</p>
<p>That student center became a model for the rest of Penn State’s academic colleges.</p>
<p>“It was truly transformative. It changed the entire student experience,” Bralower said. “It is still, to this day, Eric’s legacy here.”</p>
<p>“I imagine he’ll do the same thing at Florida State. The main beneficiaries will be the students.”</p>
<p>Sharon Mosher, dean at the University of Texas Jackson School, said one of the first things Barron did when he arrived in 2006 was assess student services.</p>
<p>He asked, should the school be offering geography tutors? Should we be recruiting differently?</p>
<p>So when Mosher introduced Barron months later to an audience, “I told them his favorite word is ‘students.’ Because that is really the truth about him.”</p>
<p>And if any FSU students out there want to play racquetball, Barron says he’s always ready for a challenging game.