President-elect Hsu Announces Leadership Changes

The following message from President-elect Andrew T. Hsu regarding personnel changes was shared on Thursday, April 11, 2019:

Dear Campus Community:

I’m writing today to inform you of some personnel announcements that will take place effective May 16, 2019.

First, as you all know, Brian McGee, provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, is leaving the College to become the president of Quincy University. I thank Provost McGee for all of his hard work in service to the College. We are a better university due to his efforts over the past fifteen years.

Fran Welch

The College will conduct a national search for the next provost starting in fall 2019. In the meantime, after consulting with many faculty members and campus leaders, I have decided to name Fran Welch, dean of the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance (EHHP), as the interim provost.

Dean Welch has led EHHP since 2001 and is knowledgeable about academic affairs and the College’s academic mission. She has strong relationships with her fellow deans and many faculty and staff members on campus. As dean of EHHP, she has many accomplishments – most notably, the design and implementation of the Teacher Leader program; the partnership with Kids on Point, an after-school and summer program that provides academic and social support for underprivileged children in the Charleston area in grades 5-12; and has led several successful national reaccreditations. I strongly believe Dean Welch will be a steady hand in academic affairs as we work to identify and hire a permanent provost.

Dean Welch will become interim provost on May 16. Provost McGee will serve in a senior advisor capacity from May 16 until his last day of employment.

Paul Patrick

Second, I am appointing Paul Patrick as chief of staff to the president. Paul is the College’s current CFO and executive vice president for business affairs. He has been at the College since 2014 and has amassed a great amount of institutional knowledge. As an alumnus of the College, Paul has a deep affinity for our university and will continue to work hard to ensure our institution’s success.

In his capacity as chief of staff, Paul will serve as my senior advisor and work on a wide variety of administrative and executive duties, special projects and initiatives involving the President’s office and its priorities. Further, he will represent me, as appropriate, in interactions with senior administrators, faculty, staff, students, members of the Board of Trustees, parents, alumni, donors and the public. He will also serve as the President’s representative as needed in meetings. In addition, he will provide overall support for the operation of the President’s office.

Announcements regarding interim leadership appointments for EHHP and the Division of Business Affairs will be made at a later date.

Please join me in congratulating Dean Welch and Paul on their exciting professional changes. I know they can count on your assistance and support.

Sincerely,

Andrew

Andrew T. Hsu, Ph.D.

President-elect