The Executive Cabinet

The Executive Cabinet is the leadership component of the University community delegated to evaluate, recommend, and execute policies as established by the Board of Trustees and under the direction of the president. Reporting to the president as chief administrators are the provost, vice presidents, and other administrators, responsible for their respective divisions and units within the University. The Executive Cabinet consists of the following: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President for Student Affairs/Enrollment Management/Athletics, Vice President for Business and Fiscal Affairs, Vice President for University Advancement and Development, and Executive Assistant to the President/Title III Coordinator. As chair of the executive cabinet, the president supervises the chief administrators, who define and implement procedures derived from the established policies to conduct University-wide operations. The Executive Cabinet serves as a vehicle to promote close cooperation among the administrators who report to the president to maintain good communication within all areas of the University community. The president also serves as chair of the SACSCOC Leadership Team, with the Accreditation Liaison reporting as a delegate and agent of regional accreditation.

The Office Of The Provost and The Division Of Academic Affairs

Dr. Angela Peters,
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs

The Office of the Provost supports the skillful improvement and learning of its valuable educators and personnel who are committed to cultivating an educational atmosphere that supports student learning and development. The office provides optimal operational and strategic performance in the areas of academics, educational support, and other areas as assigned by the President of the University ensuring the achievement of the University’s mission and vision.

The Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs manages the University’s regional accreditation and ensues total compliance in each academic and administrative unit campus-wide. Additionally, the office hires, supports, and promotes faculty, coordinators, managers, and directors necessary in solidifying the growth and activities of students during their matriculation at Voorhees University. Leadership in enrollment, retention, and graduation strategies are provided through the Office of the Provost and Division of Academic Affairs. The office is responsible for managing the University’s resources while stimulating building on those resources in ways that expand the image and viability of the University through budgeting and planning. Ultimately, the office is responsible for academic program management and curriculum development, faculty promotion and enhancement, and strategic preparation.

In accordance with the University’s mission, Dr. W. Franklin Evans, the 9th President of Voorhees University has issued the charge and call to action articulated through the mantra: Re-Imagining Voorhees: Begin, Believe, Become. President Evans believes and expects that Voorhees University will be nationally recognized as a premier, comprehensive liberal arts institution focused on student success, excellence, and integrity. Through this charge, greater emphasis is placed on high-performing learners, highly-accomplished faculty and staff, an involved community, and a supportive and dedicated alumni base. To that end, Voorhees University’s Office of the Provost and Division of Academic Affairs is committed to designing, developing, and offering programs of study that will strengthen the preparation of our students for their chosen career fields, and maximize their potential for success through increased opportunities for specializations in high demand.

The goal of the Office of the Provost and Division of Academic Affairs is to achieve Academic Excellence and Distinction which will be realized and maintained through efficient management of the division, continual assessment and realignment of the curriculum, development of the faculty, and maximized curricular and co-curricular student engagement, locally, nationally, and internationally.

Under the leadership of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the structural organization of the Division of Academic Affairs is comprised of the academic, administrative, instructional, and educational support units of Voorhees University. The Division of Academic Affairs consists of three academic departments: Department of Business & Entrepreneurship; Department of Humanities, Education, & Social Sciences; and Department of Science, Technology, Health, and Human Services. The University offers sixteen majors that are aligned with local and national workforce needs and strategically develop intentional career pathway options for students across their collegiate experience to strengthen their career selection and preparation.

The Division of Academic Affairs seeks to provide academic, cultural, spiritual, and social experiences that prepare students not only for professional and personal success but also to advance Voorhees University as a premiere liberal arts institution of higher education. Furthermore, the mission of the Division of Academic Affairs is to support and advance the mission and strategic initiatives of the University. The Division is committed to the ethos of the liberal arts tradition, consistent with the University’s motto, “Changing minds. Changing lives.” realized through challenging curricular and co-curricular programs aimed at preparing students to be productive and positive contributors in a diverse, global society.

To that end, the Division is committed to fostering a student-centered environment that encourages collaboration, research, and creative activities between and among students and faculty at Voorhees and students and faculty across the nation and the world. The Division believes that this thrust promotes knowledge, scholarship, appreciation of diversity, and especially current technological literacy.

Since knowledge and learning are acquired in both the formal classroom setting and beyond, the Division of Academic Affairs provides educational support units to engage students in co-curricular and extra-curricular programs and experiential activities. To achieve Academic Excellence and Distinction, the Division of Academic Affairs has five (5) academic foci to include:

First-Year Experience Program
The First-Year Experience Program seeks to re-imagine University life for students in the first year of University at Voorhees. Based on the premise to prepare students in the first year of University for the nebulous, daunting, and sometimes frightening transition from high school to University, the Voorhees University First-Year Experience Program is designed to help incoming students enjoy and adjust to in-depth critical thinking, analytical discussion, guided career pathways, and the systems that make Voorhees University the unique institution it is.

The First-Year Experience Program catalyzes enculturation of students in the first year of University and seeks to provide best-practice strategies, including guided pathways curriculum reform, learning communities, heightened student engagement, and other programs and activities designed to guide this vulnerable population of students to first-year success.

Service Learning and Community Engagement
Service Learning and Community Engagement is anchored in the biblical reference proclaimed by our Founder, Elizabeth Evelyn Wright: Ebenezer, the Stone of Help. Through Service Learning activities, students are systemically immersed in the culture of helping through volunteerism, community service, experiential engagement, and guided career pathways. At Voorhees University, Service Learning is a process of involving students in community service activities combined with facilitated means for applying the experience to their academic and personal development. It is a form of experiential education aimed at enhancing and enriching student learning in the course material. When compared to other forms of experiential learning like internships and cooperative education, it is similar in that it is student-centered, hands-on, and directly applicable to the curriculum.

Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research
The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research seeks to offer opportunities for faculty to broaden their perspectives on teaching and learning and apply strategies grounded in research to optimize student learning. The CTLR provides opportunities for faculty to evolve their teaching practice in ways that enhance student learning.

Office of International Programs
International Programs provides a comprehensive platform for global engagement for students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, and community members. Ultimately, the Office of International Programs serves as a clearinghouse for International Services at Voorhees University and the home to cutting-edge international initiatives, including (but not limited to): Study Abroad Programs, International Internship Programs, International and English Language Programs, and International Services.

The Office of International Programs is Voorhees University’s primary resource for undergraduates and alumni seeking to engage in experiential and virtual international experiences. Further, the Office of International Programs will work closely with the Office of Admissions to recruit additional international students who will find that one of their best educational opportunities lies within the confines of studying at an HBCU in the United States. Finally, the Office of International Programs serves as a platform and catalyst for resources and the creation of discussion spaces on a wide range of critical international topics (e.g., immigration reform, financial matters, cultural, social, and political commonalities and differences, business, development, law, and diplomacy).

The Center for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning
The Center for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning comprises Distance Learning, Off-Campus Instructional Sites, and Evening and Weekend programs. The programs primarily include working, adult learners, who have some University credits and wish to complete the bachelor’s degree for career enhancement, employment advancement, and personal edification. The Voorhees University Center for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning seeks to provide a roadmap for the bachelor’s degree completion of adult learners, thus empowering them to engage in the exponential responsibility of “Changing minds. Changing lives” in their given professions.

Additional Educational Support units include the following:

The Center for Academic Excellence
The Center for Academic Excellence is a full-service tutorial center designed to ensure that all students are provided the academic support required to be successful at Voorhees University. Individual and group writing support is provided free of charge to any member of the Voorhees community. Students receive assistance with all stages of the writing process, from finding a topic through drafting, revising, and final editing. The Center also provides individual and group support for students whose first language is not English.

Career Pathways Initiative
The Career Pathways Initiative strengthens University career placement outcomes by increasing the number of undergraduates who immediately transition to meaningful jobs in their chosen fields.

Student Support Services
The Student Support Services Program is designed to enhance University success for first-generation, low-income students and/or those with disabilities.

The Center of Excellence for Rural and Minority Health & Wellness
The Center investigates and combats health disparities in Bamberg County. The center’s mission is to eliminate health disparities through the dissemination of health information by way of technology and traditional means and to improve the access of the rural and minority communities of Bamberg and its surrounding counties to quality healthcare and wellness.

Wright/Potts Library
Library resources and services at the Wright/Potts Library at Voorhees University are designed to provide the same high-quality service to distance education students as on-site students. The Library’s primary objective is to provide the necessary resources and services to support the University’s educational mission. Efforts are made by the library staff to implement the objectives of the University by making books and other relative resources available to supplement and enrich the curriculum, to provide for independent study and research, and to encourage a lifelong habit of reading for cultural enrichment and personal growth.

As such, all Voorhees University students have automatically generated student accounts, which include proxy server access into our database and online journal subscriptions. Distance Education students also have access to the library’s collection through a book request service (books from our collection are mailed to the student for use and then returned via mail) and interlibrary loan services.

The Wright/Potts Library also provides each student with an account to help organize their research and create citations. Each academic department has an assigned liaison librarian and the liaison is responsible for course-related research guides accessible through the library’s website. The library provides access to on-demand local and statewide research assistance delivered via email, chat, and text, and will use a variety of face-to-face interactive portals, such as Skype, Go-To-Meeting, and Google Hangout if needed by the student for more intensive assistance. The delivery of library resources and services has adapted to include delivery via online instruction, websites, videos, tutorials, television, and blogs.

The proposed VC Online BS-Business Administration program is composed of student learning outcomes that require students and faculty to examine basic functions and theories of Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, and other areas of Business Administration. The Wright/Potts Library already supports the academic program and has a diverse and extensive online resource collection to provide potential online students. See Table IV for highlighted databases that directly or indirectly impact teaching and learning in Business Administration. 

Also, significant to our online Business Administration program, the Wright/Potts Library at Voorhees University is a member of the Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries (PASCAL), a consortium that fosters cooperation on a broad range of library resources materials and issues. Additional on-line resources that directly and indirectly impact teaching and learning in the Bachelor of Business Administration degree program and developing career pathways for students include:

• Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) - the leading resource for scholarly research; supports high-level research in the key areas of academic study by providing journals, periodicals, reports, books, and more.
• JSTOR - a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.
• EBSCO databases and eBook collection - contains all of the full-text eBooks purchased from EBSCO, including eBooks from eBook Subscription Collections, as well as single eBook titles; the eBook is automatically transferred into this database with EBSCO.
• ABC-Clio eBook Collection - provides access to over 6,000 encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and guides from ABC-CLIO, Greenwood Press, Libraries Unlimited, and Praeger. Topics covered include history, business and economics, current events and issues, education, geography, and world cultures, health and medicine, law, crime and justice, library and information science, literature, military history, multicultural and gender studies, philosophy, politics and government, popular culture, religion and mythology, science, technology and environment, security studies, and sociology.
• Lexis Nexis Academic - online academic research database, University faculty, and students can pinpoint relevant information for a wide range of academic research projects.
• Literature Resource Center (Gale) - online literature database offering the broadest and most representative range of authors and their works including a deep collection of full-text critical and literary analysis. The database provides researchers with unbounding evidence to support their literary responses and thesis statements through a diversity of scholars and critics that ensure all views and perspectives are represented.
• Archives from the Institute of Physics (IOP) - an electronic collection for the scientific, technical, and medical research community. This collection of articles is a combination of important themes by some of the most pivotal characters in the history and development of science.
• Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) - covers the expansive academic disciplines offered in Universitys and universities and provides comprehensive content, including PDF back-files to 1975 for more than 120 journals and searchable cited references for more than 1,000 titles.

The Wright/Potts Library has many more electronic resources to support students, faculty, and academic advisors in the Bachelor of Science Business Administration degree program.

The Division of Enrollment Management

Darryl Izzard, Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management

The Division of Enrollment Management is responsible for recruitment and admissions, student services, retention, and graduation. The Division of Enrollment Management includes the following offices: Office of Recruitment and Admissions, Office of the Registrar and Student Records, Office of Financial Aid, Retention & Scholarships, and Veterans Resource Center.

Voorhees University values diversity among its student body and encourages applications from qualified students who come from a wide variety of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. The University admits students who meet the entrance requirements without regard to race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, genetic orientation or against qualified disabled persons, disabled veterans, or veterans of the Vietnam era, as identified and defined by law or any factor that is a prohibited consideration under applicable law.

The Division of Students Affairs

Adrian West, Vice President for Student Affairs

The Division of Student Affairs is the administrative area of the University that includes the  Office of Student Engagement, Residential Life and Housing, Health Services, and Violence Program. Within this division, various activities and programs are coordinated to provide excellent administrative services and information to students and their parents, the University community, and other constituents and stakeholders. It is within this division that students are actively recruited throughout the academic year and the summer.

The Division of Business and Fiscal Affairs

Diane O’Berry, Vice President for Business and Fiscal Affairs

The purpose of the Division of Fiscal & Administrative Affairs is to manage effectively the financial, human, and physical resources of the University. The division includes the Office of Financial Aid, Human Resources, the Physical Plant, Accounting, Transportation, the University Mail Room, and Book Store. Also, the Division of Fiscal & Administrative Affairs manages all outsourced contractual vendors.

The Division of University Advancement and Development

TBD, Vice President for University Advancement and Development

The Division of University Advancement and Development supports the overall mission of Voorhees University by spearheading efforts to increase the involvement of philanthropic organizations with the University. Moreover, while enhancing the University image, the Division of University Advancement and Development strives to build long-term voluntary relationships between Voorhees University and its external constituents to stimulate greater understanding, support, and recognition of Voorhees and its important mission as a private, historically black, church-related, liberal arts University. Furthermore, the division’s departments are responsible for a range of activities that provide the framework for building strong support and lasting relationships with a variety of constituencies, including alumni, community members, donors, lawmakers, the media, parents, students and friends. The division’s departments include the Office of Communications, Major & Planned Gifts, Alumni Affairs and Development.