Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501230041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The finalists are Jairy C. Hunter Jr., president of Charleston Southern University in South Carolina, and Douglas Covington, president of Cheyney University in Pennsylvania.
Hunter, 52, has been president since 1984 at Charleston Southern, where he also is a professor of management. Covington, 59, became president of Cheyney University in July 1992.
The two were chosen unanimously by a 14-member search committee following interviews last weekend with eight finalists.
Hunter teaches ``Strategic Management and Planning'' in the master's of business of administration program, while Covington has helped Cheyney out of financial difficulty. The skills of either might be helpful at Radford.
Both finalists come from universities much smaller than Radford, where enrollment hovers at 9,000.
Charleston Southern is a Southern Baptist University with an enrollment of about 2,500. The school has an annual budget of $18 million, while Radford's is about $50 million.
Cheyney University, the oldest historically black college in the country, has an enrollment of about 1,500 and is one of 14 state-run Pennsylvania colleges.
Hunter, a native of Lancaster, S.C., has served as president of the South Carolina Association of Colleges and Universities and is a past vice president of the Big South Athletic Conference, of which Radford is a member. He has a master's degree in business administration from Appalachian State University and a doctoral degree in administration and management from Duke University.
Hunter is one of the highest-paid presidents in South Carolina, earning $137,500 a year. Covington makes $95,400 at Cheyney. Radford President Donald Dedmon, who resigned last year and is officially on sick leave, earns $132,104.
Covington has helped bring Cheyney out of years of financial decline and nose-diving enrollment, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The university, which nearly lost its accreditation in 1985 because of ineffective leadership and poor fiscal management, is showing a surplus after 16 years of running a deficit, according to a November report by the Inquirer.
Covington said Friday that he was prepared to deal with the critical issues facing Radford University.
``I have read about some of the cuts, the financial limitations and the financial austerity issues,'' Covington said.
``I believe that as president that I could make a significant contribution. I believe that we're a remarkably good match.''
Hunter could not be reached for comment.
Covington previously has served as chancellor at Winston-Salem State University and as president of Alabama A&M University in Huntsville. He has a master's degree and a doctorate in philosophy, both from Ohio State University.
He has also been deputy superintendent of schools for Montclair, N.J.; vice president for development affairs at Tuskegee University in Alabama; and interim president of Shelby State Community College in Memphis, Tenn.
Under Hunter's tenure, Charleston Southern's enrollment has increased 56 percent from 1,600 in 1984 and graduate programs have been expanded to include master's degrees in education and business administration.
Radford has scheduled public forums for faculty, staff and students to meet the two finalists.
Hunter will meet with students Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Commonwealth Room at Heth Hall. He will meet with faculty and staff at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Porterfield Theatre. Covington will meet faculty and staff Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the theater, and with students on Thursday at 2 p.m. in Heth.
by CNB