Coastal Carolina board of trustees approve new programs

In a release from Coastal Carolina University, it was announced that 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.

This announcement came during the board of trustees' regular December meeting that was held on Friday, Dec. 14.

The degree is designed for music students interested in becoming music educators. Graduates of the new Bachelor of Music Education degree 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. There are only five universities in South Carolina offer music education degrees with initial licensure at this time. None of those five universities 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, becoming operational in January 2019. The new college 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.

Also announced at the Dec. 14 meeting was the appointing of two new trustees to the board. Dalton B. Floyd Jr., founding partner of the Floyd Law Firm in Surfside Beach, as well as Sherry I. Johnson, general manager of entertainment golf and land management at Burroughs & Chapin, are now members of the Coastal Carolina University board of trustees/

The board approved the formation of a presidential search advisory committee to begin the process of selecting CCU’s next chief executive. Current Coastal Carolina University President, Dr. David A. DeCenzo, intends to retire in 2021. The incoming president will be chosen to work with DeCenzo for approximately one year prior to his retirement.

The presidential search advisory 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. Gerald was 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.