ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – In addition to welcoming new President Edward Serna on July 1, Winthrop University also welcomed home a new academic leader who is very familiar with the university and who will be guiding the academic areas of campus for the next year.
Peter Judge, professor emeritus of religious studies, started July 1 as interim provost. He said the work so far has been “fast and furious” as he is getting up to speed on what has changed since he retired a year ago.
There are other leadership changes in administrative roles on the dean and department chair levels.
Beth Costner was selected this spring as dean of the Richard W. Riley College of Education.
Two others have been tapped as interim deans: Karen Oremus for the College of Visual and Performing Arts and Leigh Poole for University College.
There are eight new department chairs throughout the university, Judge said, which will give some faculty members an opportunity to learn about the administrative side of academics. They are:
College of Arts and Sciences – Brad Tripp, interim for the Department of Sociology, Criminology and Anthropology; Amanda Hiner, chair of the Department of English; Kristen Abernathy, chair of the Department of Mathematics; Darren Ritzer, from interim to chair of the Department of Psychology; and Greg Bell, chair of the Department of History.
In other College of Arts and Sciences news, the Philosophy and Religious Studies department will be combined with the Department of Political Science, which is overseen by chair Jennifer Disney.
College of Visual and Performing Arts – Mark Hamilton, interim chair for the Department of Fine Arts; and Jason Tselentis, chair of the Department of Design.
College of Business Administration – Adriana Cordis, chair of the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
The academic year is one that Judge hopes will prove to be satisfying to faculty and staff because “we are all working together to do something good.”
“We want to be able to look back on the year and be proud of what we accomplished,” Judge added.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at longshawj@winthrop.edu or at 803/323-2404.
