Dear colleagues:

As you know, I have announced my intent to retire from my role as vice president and vice provost. It’s natural that you will have questions about this period of transition. As I always have, I pledge to tell you what I know and am able to share at this point in time. 

The university will conduct a national search for a vice president for student affairs.   

• The university will post the position overview, search committee members and other information on the Executive Searches webpage. 
• The successful candidate will begin work around the target date of July 1. 
• This timing is intended to allow the vice president for student affairs to join South Carolina’s leadership team at the same time President-elect Michael Amiridis and other incoming senior leaders arrive. 

I will step down as vice president and vice provost when the new vice president takes office this summer. 

• I will remain with the university until my contract expires in January 2023. 
• My new responsibilities will be determined by President-elect Amiridis, but I will likely assist new leadership and support their successful transitions to South Carolina. 

Enrollment Management will report to the Office of the Provost effective July 1.

• This long-planned move aligns with the reporting structures at our peer and peer-aspirant universities, enriches the portfolio of our incoming provost and enhances Enrollment Management’s already strong relationships with academic units in recruiting and enrolling outstanding students. 

There are no changes planned for the remainder of the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support at this time. 

• The division will continue to report to the president via the vice president for student affairs. 
• Student affairs and academic affairs will continue to work closely together in support of our students’ success and well-being.   

As you each would understand, there may be other changes beyond those stated in this message when the new executive team starts July 1. President-elect Amiridis will most certainly review all the areas reporting to him to ensure those areas’ responsibilities are aligned with his new-found understanding of the university following his reintroduction to where we are after his seven-year absence, but also to align areas with the expertise, experience and interest of our new vice president for student affairs and our new provost. This will be true for the areas of research, development, the president’s office, institutional research and assessment and libraries, as well as student affairs, among the many other areas that will have new leadership.

We should all be realistic in knowing the number and scope of changes coming in the next few months may spark anxiety and uncertainty. But as I have said many times, our division and each of you will be in good hands. Your directors are committed to our students and employees. Your AVPs make up the strongest leadership team at this or any university. President-elect Amiridis is an outstanding leader with an exceptional understanding and appreciation of the value of student affairs, and he will value our new vice president for student affairs and academic support and view them with high esteem for their leadership and the work they do through you as their extension – just as it has been for the past 40 years.

Although the next five years may present challenges for all of higher education, I am more certain the next five years will also be the most rewarding, the most impactful and the most achieving period of time in our university’s illustrious history. This will be the case due to the new leadership we will have in our executive roles and because I know your expertise, your experience, your energy, and your student-centered passions will be aided and advanced when aligned with President-elect Amiridis and his new executive leadership.

It has been my privilege to work with each of you, to learn from you, to contribute with you in advancing the stature and reputation our great university, and to educating and developing four decades of outstanding students who exemplify the ideals in our Carolinian Creed and who are true Carolinians for life. I look forward to continuing to work with you over the next 10 months.

Here’s a health, Carolina, forever to thee.

Dennis