{"id":2118,"date":"2025-11-17T10:55:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T16:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/?p=2118"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:56:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T16:56:01","slug":"tarleton-state-introduces-college-of-general-and-applied-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/2025\/11\/17\/tarleton-state-introduces-college-of-general-and-applied-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarleton State Introduces College of General and Applied Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reflecting Tarleton State University\u2019s ongoing commitment to advancing student success and academic distinction, its <\/em>University College has transitioned to the College of General and Applied Studies (COGAS), headed by Dr. Rusty Freed as its inaugural Dean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis change strengthens the university\u2019s focus on degree completion, academic advising and workforce pathways, ensuring that students, regardless of where they begin their journey, have clear, supported pathways to graduation and career readiness,\u201d said Acting Provost Dr. Barry Lambert. \u201cThe College of General and Applied Studies will also enhance collaboration across colleges and expand applied, accessible programs that meet the needs of today\u2019s learners and employers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Freed, a Tarleton State alumnus, has worked at the university for 39 years, most recently as Dean of the University College and Professor of Management in the Dr. Sam Pack College of Business. He has held positions such as Associate Vice President for Outreach and Off-campus Programs, Executive Director for Academic Advising and Director of the Small Business Development Center. He has served on numerous committees including the Dean\u2019s Council and University Curriculum Committee, and his list of scholarly and creative contributions is long and robust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the inaugural Dean of the College of General and Applied Studies, I am honored to lead a team committed to putting our current and future students first \u2014 a focus that has guided my academic career,\u201d said Dr. Freed. \u201cThis new college brings together academic programs and support services in a way that strengthens our ability to help students complete their degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new COGAS will include four administrative units previously in the University College: Academic Advising, Texan SMART, Title III Grant Initiative and the Workforce Pathways program. Within Academic Advising will be the leadership and staff for the College Readiness\/Texas Success Initiatives (TSI) and the Texas A&M University\u2019s Program for System Admissions (PSA), both critical and key areas of focus for the university and the new college moving forward, Dr. Freed said. He added that he will continue to work closely with these areas to ensure the continuation of the outstanding service that they each provide for students at all sites. The remaining academic support programs have been realigned with the Associate Vice Provost for Retention and Persistence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are also dedicated to building strong partnerships across campus, at each of our educational sites, and with business, education and community leaders,\u201d Dr. Freed continued. \u201cI am excited for what lies ahead and proud to continue to help shape Tarleton State\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently the B.S. in General Studies is the only academic program being moved to the new college. Collaborations will continue with other academic colleges, especially with the expanding\/ever-growing adult\/non-traditional baccalaureate degrees such as BAAS, BAS, BAT, B.S. in Applied Science, etc., he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflecting Tarleton State University\u2019s ongoing commitment to advancing student success and academic distinction, its University College has transitioned to the College of General and Applied Studies (COGAS), headed by Dr. Rusty …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":19,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2021\/09\/Fall-Campus-Water-Tower_8465-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["In the News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["In the News<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 months ago","modified":"Updated 5 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 17, 2025","modified":"Updated on November 17, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 17, 2025 10:55 am","modified":"Updated on November 17, 2025 10:56 am"},"featured_img_caption":"Water tower with Tarleton State University logo, surrounded by autumn trees.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2119,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118\/revisions\/2119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}