MEDIA ADVISORY: UL System Board to Vote Friday on Interim President of Grambling State University

On-site Media Interviews with Warrick Available Immediately Following Meeting

BATON ROUGE – The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System will consider the appointment of Cynthia Warrick as Interim President of Grambling State University at its meeting this Friday, June 27 in Baton Rouge.  UL System President Sandra Woodley announced earlier this month that Warrick is her choice for the position.

“While we search for a permanent leader for Grambling State, the university needs an interim president with the skills and expertise to address a variety of issues.  Dr. Warrick has proven capable of enacting positive change in the face of significant challenges, and, I believe, she is the right person to move the university forward during this transitional period,” said Woodley.

WHAT: Vote to Appoint Cynthia Warrick as Interim President of Grambling State University at UL System Board of Supervisors Meeting

WHEN: 12:00 p.m. (CST), Friday, June 27, 2014

WHERE: Room 100, Claiborne Building, 1201 N. Third Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802

LIVE WEBCAST: http://streaming.louisiana.gov

In the 2012-13 academic year, Warrick served as Interim President at South Carolina State University, the state’s only public HBCU.  During her one-year appointment, she accomplished the following:

• Recruited a team of professionals to address legal, financial, criminal, political, academic, and student issues related to failed management and oversight;
• Prevented the closure of a major academic program threatening the degrees of over 200 professional nursing students;
• Developed and implemented a mobile app and social media networking center to address campus security, customer service and communication issues, and to enhance student trust and awareness, stakeholder involvement and campus cohesiveness;
• Successfully lobbied the SC legislature to increase university funding and improve the institution’s public relations in the wake of negative publicity; and
• Established key agency and private sector partnerships.

A pharmacist by trade, Warrick ventured into higher education 16 years ago.  She has served in multi-faceted leadership roles as an administrator, public servant, healthcare professional, environmental research scientist, faculty member, and accreditation reviewer.

She is a Senior Fellow for the Center for Minority Health Services Research at Howard University’s College of Pharmacy, a position she has held since 2009. 

Prior to her interim presidential appointment at South Carolina State, Warrick was Dean and Chief Research Officer and Professor of Pharmacy at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina; Associate Professor and Director of Environmental & Occupational Health at Florida A&M University; and Assistant Professor in the Division of Management, Policy & Community Health at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.

Warrick earned a doctoral degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy at George Mason University, a master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Howard University.

“It is a great honor to be considered for Interim President of Grambling State University.  As an HBCU alumna, I am both excited and humbled by the opportunity to serve this outstanding institution that has a legacy of excellence in higher education and athletics, but also in life. I look forward to joining the Grambling family in the pursuit of continued service to students, faculty, staff, and proud alumni in Louisiana and throughout the world,” said Warrick.

GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

The University of Louisiana System recently launched a presidential search for Grambling State University upon the announcement of President Frank G. Pogue’s decision to retire at the end of June.  A search committee was appointed and held its inaugural meeting and public forum on the North Louisiana campus on May 8.

Voting members of the Grambling Presidential Search Committee include UL System Board Members Andre Coudrain of Hammond, Edward Crawford III of Shreveport, David Guidry of Natalbany, Board Chair E. Gerald “T-Boy” Hebert of Kenner, Student Member Adam Lefort, Jimmy Long, Sr. of Natchitoches, Board Vice Chair Jimmie “Beau” Martin, Jr. of Cut Off, D. Wayne Parker of Choudrant, Mark Romero of Lafayette, and Winfred Sibille of Sunset.  Also serving as a voting member is Grambling Faculty Senate President Herbert Simmons.

Serving as advisory, non-voting members are GSU SGA President-Elect Erik Johnson, a junior Kinesiology major and Army ROTC member from Dallas; Grambling University National Alumni Association President Melissa Bickham, a 1993 Computer Science graduate of Grambling State and a consultant based in Atlanta, Georgia; community representative Mildred Gallot, a 1959 graduate and retired GSU faculty member who authored A History of Grambling State University; and community representative Wilbert Ellis, also a 1959 graduate, former baseball coach and retired employee who worked at GSU for 50 years.  UL System President Sandra Woodley serves as the non-voting committee chair.

For more information about the Grambling Search, visit www.ulsystem.edu/GramblingSearch. Questions and comments can be emailed to gsupresidentialsrch@uls.state.la.us.

-ULS-

ABOUT GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY: Founded in 1901 from the desire of African-American farmers in rural northern Louisiana to educate black children in their region, Grambling State University is a SACS-COC accredited and Carnegie Classified Master’s level institution that enrolls approximately 5,000 students in 47 degree programs.  The university is nationally known for its legendary former football coach Eddie G. Robinson and the World Famed Tiger Marching Band.  Grambling State combines all the strengths of a major university with the personality of a small college, thereby allowing students to grow and learn in a serene and positive environment that is indeed the place “Where Everybody is Somebody.”

ABOUT THE UL SYSTEM: The University of Louisiana System is the largest higher education system in Louisiana enrolling about 90,000 students at Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and the University of New Orleans.