CAMPUS NEWS Trustees Take Action on Several Items at June Meeting

During a June 25 meeting, members of the Winthrop Board of Trustees, the university’s governing body, discussed and voted on several important items. Read more about these action items:

SUMMER 2021

CAMPUS NEWS

Three Faculty, Nine Student Award Winners Honored at May Commencements

During Winthrop’s five in-person Commencement ceremonies held May 6-8, three exceptional faculty members were recognized with prestigious awards.

Cliff Calloway

Cliff Calloway, professor of chemistry, received the Distinguished Professor Award, the highest award the university bestows upon a faculty member. Hye-Sung Kim, an assistant professor of political science, earned the Outstanding Junior Professor Award. Finally, Stephanie Lawson, an associate professor of marketing, accepted the Jane LaRoche Graduate Faculty Award.

Search for 12th President to Soon Launch

Trustees will soon launch a search for the university’s 12th president. Working closely with board leadership, George Hynd has led the institution in an interim role since March 2020.

Board Chair Glenn McCall noted that members want a president “who will be charged with building upon and enhancing the university’s record of accomplishment and innovation, while guiding Winthrop to increased levels of excellence and service.”

Trustee Julie Fowler, who is the superintendent of ed- ucation’s designee on the board, will lead the search effort. Trustees will hire a professional executive search company or consultant to assist in determining poten- tial candidates who could be successful at Winthrop, as well as vetting them as the search proceeds.

Additionally, all trustees will be members of the presi- dential search committee and will rely on a volunteer university advisory committee representing the cam- pus and community. The presidential search advisory committee will be led by Gloria Jones ’84, retired dean of University College, and Peter Moroni ’07, ’09, pres- ident of the Winthrop Foundation’s board of directors. The committee will hold listening sessions, review the institutional profile, host candidates and more.

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No Undergraduate Tuition Increase for 2021-22

Trustees voted unanimously for no undergrad- uate tuition increase for the 2021-22 academic year for the second year in a row.

McCall said trustees want to keep a college education affordable for students. As Winthrop heads into a second academic year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, the university will rely some on federal pandemic dollars to cover its shortfall.

Online Graduate School rates will remain the same while campus-based Graduate School rates will increase by 1 percent.

Also during the ceremonies, nine graduates were honored with the President’s Award for Academic Excellence, which acknowledges the graduates who have the highest GPAs in the class. Those award winners were: Scarlett Black, Allee Campbell, Kevin Caudill, Gabrielle Cobbina, Mary Gump, Kennedy Mayers, Lauren Quesada, J’ai Reed and Katrina Sides.

Hye-Sung Kim

Stephanie Lawson

Political Science Graduate Earns One of Six Prestigious Fellowships

May graduate McKenzie Bennett was selected as the recipient of a 2021 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) fellowship to continue her studies surrounding voting rights for marginalized groups.

Board Officers Re-elected

Trustees unanimously re-elected Chairman Glenn McCall to lead the Board of Trustees. Kathy Bigham was re-elected as vice chair. The two were selected for leadership for the fourth consecutive year.

Both are Rock Hill residents and will serve two-year terms beginning July 1.

Bennett of Rock Hill is one of only six social science/ public policy recipients chosen in the country for the prestigious fellowship. The NSF received more than 13,000 overall applications and made 2,000 total award selections.

Bennett’s professors said she distinguished herself in several areas at Winthrop, including academics, undergraduate research, and campus and community engagement. She was a member of the College Democrats, worked as a Winthrop Poll phone caller and completed an eight-week internship with the

Fund for American Studies in Washington, D.C., to study the inner workings of the federal government.

Bennett was a political science major and a psychology minor. She will begin a Ph.D. program in political science at the

University of Notre Dame next month.

Her career goal is to advocate for marginalized groups’ voting rights, and she is open to positions in higher education, the political science arena or government agencies.

The South Mecklenburg High graduate also was a member at Winthrop of Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society, the National Society of Leadership and Success and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

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