Debra Boyd said that she is excited to continue her efforts of helping students by rejoining them in the classroom and returning to her original position as a professor of English.
After more than seven years as Winthrop University’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, Boyd, who has a Ph.D in English, will be stepping away from her administrative positions on Jun. 30, 2019 and returning to teaching English the following year.
“I simply decided it was time for me to do something else. We have a great administrative team in place, and I felt comfortable in saying ‘it’s time to go back to doing what I got into higher education in the first place, and that is to teach’” Boyd said.
Boyd said that university administrative jobs do not allow one to teach often and she was unable to see the affects of her day-to-day job on the students and faculty she was working with. She said that she missed being able to see the direct link between teachers and students and the connections made in those classes.
“I’ve missed it tremendously. That is why we are all here — to teach and learn. I’m just ready to do it again,” Boyd said.
Boyd called herself the “accidental administrator,” accepting and fulfilling multiple administrative roles during her 34 years at Winthrop. She said that becoming the chair of the English department was her “administrative goal,” taking up the position in her fourth year at Winthrop.
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“The other roles were simply people asking me if I was willing to help, and I was like, ‘Sure! If I can help in some way, I’m happy to help,’” Boyd said about her many different positions since starting at Winthrop.
Boyd went on to become the director of composition for the English department for eight years. She was then the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for another eight years before her current role as provost and executive vice-president of Academic Affairs.
She was also the acting president as well as provost during the 2014-2015 school year before the current president, Daniel Mahony, was elected in July 2015.
Boyd’s current responsibility is in academic affairs which includes offering programs, facilities and the necessary systems to provide education. This also includes reaching out and working in multiple divisions across campus, including finance and business, student affairs, athletics and human resources.
“There’s hardly any initiative that happens at the university that doesn’t touch the academic side. That’s why the provost brings people together to work on strategic initiatives. Working in academic affairs, you get an opportunity to shape the learning experiences students have in programs and classes, but it’s not the same as being in the classroom yourself,” Boyd said.
Boyd said she will take a year-long sabbatical to get prepared for the classroom again, including training, preparing courses and continuing scholarship. She will begin teaching on Aug. 16, 2020 in the Department of English, with an interest in teaching a Critical Reading, Thinking and Writing course (CRTW).
There is currently a national search for a new provost and executive vice-president of academic affairs, led by President Mahony and his office. There is a committee composed of faculty, staff and student representatives that will aid in this search.
