CCU trustees approve new programs
At its regular December meeting on Dec. 14, the Coastal Carolina University board of trustees approved a motion to establish a Bachelor of Music Education degree program, which will be offered in the fall of 2020.
The degree is designed for music students interested in becoming music educators. Graduates of the program will earn initial licensure certifying them to teach music at the elementary, middle or high school level in general music, choral music or instrumental music. Currently, only five universities in South Carolina offer music education degrees with initial licensure, and none are located in the low country or the eastern section of the state.
Degree programs must be approved by the South Carolina Higher Education Commission and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) before being officially added to the University curriculum.
The board approved the establishment of the new College of Graduate Studies and Research. The new college, which will become operational in January 2019, focuses on the coordination of graduate recruitment and enrollment across all academic disciplines as well as all the University’s research efforts at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The college was created based on needs indicated in the University’s 2016-2021 strategic plan for additional focus on graduate enrollment and grant funding.
Two new trustees were recently appointed to the board: Dalton B. Floyd Jr., founding partner of the Floyd Law Firm in Surfside Beach; and Sherry I. Johnson, general manager of entertainment golf and land management at Burroughs & Chapin.
The board approved the formation of a presidential search advisory committee to begin the process of selecting CCU’s next chief executive. President David A. DeCenzo intends to retire in 2021, and an incoming president will be chosen to work with DeCenzo for approximately one year prior to his retirement. The committee will consist of seven trustees (Bill Biggs, Natasha Hanna, Wyatt Henderson, Carlos Johnson, Gene Spivey, Oran Smith and Delan Stevens), a faculty member, a staff member, a dean, an athletic administrator, and one representative each from the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, Executive Council, Student Government Association, Coastal Alumni Association, Chanticleer Athletic Foundation, Coastal Educational Foundation, and the Horry County Higher Education Commission.
The board approved professor emeritus status for retired faculty member Veronica Gerald, the founding director of CCU’s Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies. A noted authority on Gullah culture, Gerald joined the English faculty at CCU in 1982.
The board also approved awarding an honorary degree, Doctor of Public Service, to Conway Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy, speaker for CCU’s fall commencement ceremonies. Blain-Bellamy began her term as mayor in 2016, having previously served on city council from 1993-1998 and 2012-2016, and as mayor pro tempore in 1996 and 2015. She is the founder of Community Legal Services, a private law office providing legal services to low- and moderate-income families.
