The new president of South Carolina State University says his priorities include everything from developing a new strategic plan to using data to retain students.

Alex Conyers was named the institution’s 13th president on April 28.

“Now that the board has made this decision, you will see very intentional plans to get after many of these things, from the master plan, to the review of salaries, a new strategic plan, recommendations on the capital campaign plan,” Conyers said.

He spoke to university trustees during their Wednesday meeting.

Conyers said he will most immediately work to fill the vacant position of vice president of finance and management.

“My most critical vacant leadership position at this time is the vice president of finance and management,” Conyers said.

In the meantime, the president said he has a plan to prioritize enrollment and retention.

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“We must utilize data-driven decisions for our retention. I certainly have great concerns about our retention. I’m looking to make a decision based on whether we’re losing students due to finances, academics, or a combination, and then putting in force all of the wrap-around services to mitigate our current retention numbers,” Conyers said.

The university’s current retention numbers are hovering around what national retention rates are, but “that’s not good enough for us,” he said.

“We need to be better than that. I don’t want to get back to normal because, quite frankly, normal was not good. So it’s not my intent to get back to normal because normal, again, was not good enough,” Conyers said.

Campus upgrades will continue throughout the summer in an effort to make the campus more attractive, the president said.

“We’re conducting all of our summer school classes virtually this summer so it would give us an opportunity to really get into every dorm and upgrade the dorms and get those dorms flipped so that when our returning students show up on campus in August, we have done the best possible work we can for those students and their families,” he said.

Improving housing options is also a priority for Conyers. Public-private partnerships will be explored.

“I’m certainly aware of my aggressive campaign to bring in more students this semester. I know we must balance that with housing and the availability to house them. We will certainly do that, but beyond this year we must explore the public-private partnership to get after a way of building new dormitories,” Conyers said.

“We know to do that, we must have the numbers. We must demonstrate the capacity for new housing,” he said.

Conyers said there will also be increased branding of the university over the summer.

Conyers said the university is also working to improve its compliance with Title IX requirements.

“If you’ve driven by the softball field, that’s a part of it. We’ve done some major renovations to the softball field for our ladies’ softball team,” the president said.

He is also working on finding an off-site location for professional development activities for faculty. He intends on meeting with S.C. State Provost Dr. Frederick Evans and Faculty Senate President Dr. Alexander Thierry on the initiative.

“It’s very important that our professional development is ongoing so that we can address those issues that our faculty need to be aware of,” Conyers said.

The president himself will be attending a course for new college presidents this summer at Harvard University from July 8-13.

“We’ve already started increasing our faculty and staff professional development off campus as well,” he said.

He thanked the board for allowing him to serve as president, an opportunity he said he and his wife, Agatha, are not taking for granted.

“Agatha and I remain grateful and humbled by this opportunity. For the past nine months, while serving as interim, I’ve had an opportunity to fully assess the university’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, as well as threats. I look very much forward to being very intentional about the changes needed to really take advantage of the opportunities and to mitigate or negate the weaknesses that we have,” Conyers said.

“I sent a message early this week thanking the faculty and staff for all of their amazing accomplishments over the nine months that ultimately led to me being able to be selected for this position. It was certainly the work of the entire faculty and staff that led to many accomplishments during my time as interim that played a huge, huge contributing factor into my selection,” he said.

engagement

Conyers said the university has taken advantage of visits from U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, as well as alumni who have excelled in their fields like Dr. Monifa Bellinger, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools. That’s the largest school system in Maryland.

“She’s looking for some partnerships with our education students. … Not only that, Dr. McKnight shared some opportunities where our current students can serve as virtual substitutes for the Montgomery County school system from here, or from anywhere for that matter, at almost $200 a day for those students who have the time to substitute while sitting here,” Conyers said.

“I had a chance to speak this weekend at Greenville, South Carolina at a conference. That conference provided the university $5,000, and I’m grateful for the Sixth District of Omega Psi Phi for that $5,000 donation,” he said.

Conyers also spoke to Trinity Baptist Church in Florence, which provided the university with a $2,000 donation.

The president was also recently appointed to the HBCU Capital Financing Advisory Board.

“That’s huge. That will give us an opportunity to be in the room to look at additional opportunities and know early on what those opportunities are when it comes to financing projects for HBCUs,” Conyers said.

Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter at @DionneTandD

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