Winthrop University interim president to focus on enrollment, facilities, engagement
As leader of Winthrop University, George Hynd plans to increase enrollment, continue focusing on student engagement and set the foundation for the next president.
The Winthrop board of trustees voted Friday to name Hynd the interim president. That comes after current President Dan Mahony’s resignation last year. Mahony’s last day is Feb. 29.
Jane LaRoche, elected to the board by the Winthrop Alumni Association, was the sole vote against approving Hynd. Twelve board members voted Friday, three were absent.
Hynd will serve from March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022.
Winthrop board chair Glenn McCall said Winthrop wants someone to serve for two years while the university goes through reaffirmation accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The association is the regional accrediting body for institutions awarding associate, baccalaureate, master’s or doctoral degrees in the Southern U.S.
Winthrop last received reaffirmation in 2011, according to the southern association’s website. The next is due in 2022.
“We wanted continuity through that,” McCall said.
Hynd said he plans to build a solid foundation for the next president.
“You’re going to have an outstanding new president and he or she is going to feel like they came to an institution that is energized, has taken care of accreditation issues, if there are any, and is really poised for that next leap forward,” Hynd told a packed auditorium of Winthrop students and faculty Friday.
Winthrop also needed a leader to take over as soon as Mahony leaves. A search for a permanent president takes about a year, McCall said.
McCall said they were looking for someone with experience leading a public university who understands the accreditation process and who is familiar with the higher education landscape in South Carolina.
McCall said the board received feedback from students, faculty and staff. He said they reviewed multiple applications before choosing Hynd.
“He was the one that best fit the criteria and characteristics we were looking for,” McCall said Friday.
Hynd has a past relationship with the Winthrop board. Hynd said he applied for the president’s role in 2012, but had to pull out of that search due to family circumstances.
Hynd most recently served as the interim dean of the College of of Arts and Sciences and interim provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a release from Winthrop states.
From 2014 to 2017, Hynd was president of Oakland University in Michigan, which serves 20,000 students. He also held a leadership position at the College of Charleston from 2010-14 and was involved in the college’s strategic planning, according to Winthrop.
Winthrop currently has about 5,864 students.
Hynd is coming out of a seven-month retirement to lead Winthrop on an interim basis. Hynd said during his career, he was able to follow Winthrop’s progress.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue the great things President Mahony has accomplished,” Hynd said. “The Winthrop Plan has all the right elements that I can see looking at the university. It’s a wonderful plan that engaged the community, engaged the students, engaged the faculty. It really has all the right elements of a strategic plan.”
Hynd worked as a clinical child neurophyschologist. Hynd and his wife Alison, also a child neuropsychologist, have two daughters. Their daughter Erin is attending the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and Elise recently graduated from the University of Georgia, according to Winthrop.
Hynd also has two children from a previous marriage, according to Winthrop. April lives in Hawaii and Brian lives in Oregon.
Hynd and his wife will be living in the Winthrop president’s house on campus with their 13-year-old golden retriever.
On campus engagement
Hynd, sporting a Winthrop Eagle lapel pin Friday, said he and Alison plan to open the president’s house to the Winthrop community. He said they plan to host events for students, faculty and staff, alumni and university supporters.
“I do believe the president’s house is a nexus for connecting to the history of the university,” Hynd said.
Hynd said he will keep the same office hours as Mahony through the end of the current school year.
“I have every intention of continuing to be engaged, accessible and visible on campus as well,” Hynd said.
Hynd said, as president, he wants to maintain Winthrop’s reputation and what the university stands for. Talking with Winthrop students, Hynd said he often hears how accessible the faculty is and the opportunities students are given.
“That gets back to this whole notion of this being a university that has a private college feel while at the same time offering advantages of a state institution,” he said. “I don’t think you want to lose that. I think that would be the absolute worst thing to happen to Winthrop, to market Winthrop as something that it is not.”
On enrollment
Increasing enrollment, Hynd said, has to be a priority. He said the high school graduation rate is expected to decline over the next decade.
“There’s going to be not that many more students to attract to an institution, and going to be more competition to get well qualified, college eligible students in the front door,” he said.
Hynd said he wants to work with the S.C. legislature to ensure the state-supported institution continues to see funding increases.
He said Winthrop in a few years should be close to what it received from the state before the Great Recession. Hynd said just about 40% of institutions will soon be back to prerecession levels of state appropriations.
Many higher education institutions still rely heavily on tuition. However, Hynd said Friday he has no plans for large tuition increases at Winthrop.
On facilities
Hynd said he wants to launch a campus-wide facilities master plan. He said the plan would use feedback from the campus community and look at what Winthrop already has, what buildings need work and what new facilities the university needs.
Hynd assisted with similar projects at the College of Charleston and Oakland University.
“Most master plans, we think of buildings, but they really require conceptualizing what it is about Winthrop that makes it special and how do we have the facilities that will serve that interest best,” he said.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 11:02 AM.
