Coastal Carolina University names Michael T. Benson new president
Coastal Carolina has named Michael T. Benson the university’s next president. He will begin serving as the university’s third president on Jan. 2. 2021.
Benson is a veteran of higher education administration who served as the 13th president of Eastern Kentucky University from August 2013 to January 2020 and was named president emeritus of EKU in December 2019.
While at EKU, he held an appointment as Professor of Government. He is currently a visiting professor in the Department of History of Science and Technology at Johns Hopkins University.
H. Delan Stevens, vice chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Board’s Presidential Search Committee, said in a news release: “We are excited to welcome Dr. Benson, and as a Board, we firmly believe his leadership talents and experiences are an excellent match for Coastal Carolina University and the advancement of this dynamic institution.”
Benson expressed appreciation to the CCU board and the Presidential Search Advisory Committee for his hire.
“My family and I are ecstatic to be joining Coastal Carolina University,” Benson said in the release. “We appreciate the board of trustees entrusting us with this amazing responsibility, and we pledge to do everything we can to build on the solid foundation already in place. There are limitless opportunities ahead. What a great time to be a Chanticleer. We look forward to getting involved on campus and in the community and to helping our students succeed any way we can.”
The search
Coastal conducted its search privately and did not release the names of the other finalists for the position.
Benson has been considered for other higher education leadership roles in the past couple years.
Late in 2018, he was named one of three finalists for the College of Charleston president position, which went to Andrew Hsu, who was then provost and executive vice president of academic affairs at the University of Toledo.
In 2019, Benson was one of eight candidates considered for the position of chancellor at the University of Mississippi, a job that went to Glenn Boyce, who served as commissioner of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning from 2015-18.
At EKU, he led several initiatives for change and campus revitalization, including a new dining hall, new residential facilities and other facility upgrades.
In recent years, he also eliminated some programs at the university as part of budget cuts.
He will arrive during a challenging time, particularly with regard to enrollment and finances.
Coastal made budgetary cuts in the 2019-20 school year due to decreased enrollment, and was forced to make further cuts this summer that included eliminating 36 jobs and requiring furloughs across the university.
Fall enrollment as of late September decreased 4.7 percent in 2020 compared to 2019 from 10,484 to 9,992 students, including a drop of 3.9 percent in undergraduates to 9,381, according to the university. Enrollment data is usually finalized in late October, however. Enrollment decreased 1.5 percent in 2019, including less than 0.4 percent among undergraduates, according to CCU.
EKU had an enrollment of 14,980 in the fall of 2019, according to the school.
Benson succeeds David A. DeCenzo, who has led CCU since 2007. DeCenzo will work on the transition with Benson until his retirement date of June 30, 2021.
During his tenure, DeCenzo implemented a comprehensive strategic planning process, assured fiscal accountability through policy and practice, and promoted assessment and transparency throughout the University.
CCU’s enrollment increased more than 35 percent during DeCenzo’s tenure, the academic program expanded from 39 to 94 undergraduate majors, 27 master’s degrees, two educational specialist degree programs, seven undergraduate certificates, six graduate certificates, and two Ph.D. programs.
DeCenzo is also credited with leading the most ambitious construction progress in CCU history.
Enrollment took a downturn in 2019, however.
The final step to Benson’s hire is approval of the Agency Head Salary Commission and finalization of his contract. He is expected to be introduced at the next Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 23.
Benson’s salary was not released Friday. DeCenzo’s annual salary is $214,451, according to CCU Senior Vice President and university counsel Carlos Johnson, with an additional $40,000 housing allowance and $150,000 in supplements from university-affiliated foundations for a total of $404.451 annually.
Benson’s background
Benson has had membership on the Council of Presidents of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), on the Presidents’ Trust for the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), and on the Task Force on University Partnerships of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
He also recently chaired three substantive change committees for universities in Texas, Georgia, and Florida for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
Active in intercollegiate athletics, Benson completed a four-year term as a member of the nine-person NCAA Honors Committee, the group charged with awarding the NCAA’s highest recognitions each year. He is also a past chair of the Presidents’ Council for the Ohio Valley Conference and was elected as representative for the Ohio Valley Conference on the NCAA Division I Presidential Forum. EKU is a member of the Ohio Valley, which competes in FCS football.
Prior to serving as president of Eastern Kentucky, Benson was the 15th president of Southern Utah University, where he helped secure the designation for SUU as the state’s public liberal arts and sciences university; established the Hispanic Center for Academic Excellence; gained admission into the Big Sky Conference for all athletic teams; completed new residence halls, a teacher education facility, and a science and engineering center; and directed the development and implementation of SUU’s most successful fundraising effort.
That endeavor, named the “Future is Rising Campaign,” raised a record $105 million for SUU.
Benson also served for five years as the 14th president of Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he helped raise more private money for the institution during his tenure than had been secured in the previous 115 years of the college’s history combined, according to CCU.
Appointed president of Snow College at age 36, Benson was the youngest college president in the history of the Utah System of Higher Education.
Born in Utah and raised in Texas and Indiana, Benson has worked and studied abroad for seven years in Italy, England and Israel.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in 1990 with a major in political science and double minors in English and history, and completed his doctorate in Modern History at the University of Oxford in 1995.
He also earned a master’s degree in non-profit administration in 2011 from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. Benson is pursuing a Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) at Johns Hopkins University and is on schedule to graduate in Fall 2021.
Benson’s scholarly work has focused on the development of the research university and its impact on our society.
He isn’t afraid to make his opinions known. He was a regular contributor to the Huffington Post as a voice on higher education and other issues for six years and he has also had articles published in the Jerusalem Post, Kansas City Star, Louisville Courier Journal, Lexington Herald-Leader and Inside Higher Ed.
Benson has also written books, including “College for the Commonwealth: A Case for Higher Education in American Democracy” and “Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel.” He is working on a new book,” Gilman at Hopkins: The Birth of the Modern American Research University.”
Benson and his wife, Debi, have three children – Truman, Tatum, and Talmage. He also has two children, Emma and Samuel, from a previous marriage.
College restructuring
Benson will have the ability to participate in the latter stages of the reformation of the school’s college of education and search for a new dean for that college.
CCU is restructuring the Spadoni College of Education to become the Spadoni College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, effective July 1, 2021.
According to Daniel Ennis, CCU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, a college formation committee will be tasked with establishing operational guidelines for the new college.
The college will include several undergraduate programs: anthropology and geography; early childhood education; elementary education; middle level education; physical education; psychology; political science; sociology; and special education. It will also include all of the current Spadoni College of Education graduate programs including educational leadership; instructional technology; literacy; special education; the Master of Arts in Teaching program; and the Ph.D. in education.
Ed Jadallah, who has served as dean of the Spadoni College of Education for the last 10 years, is stepping down at the conclusion of the 2020-2021 academic year, and CCU is launching a national search for a new dean, who is expected to be appointed by July 1, 2021.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 8:38 AM.
