Veteran dean appointed to new system leadership role
Posted on: 2/20/2015; Updated on: 2/20/2015By Chris Horn, 803-777-3687
Mary Anne Fitzpatrick spent the bulk of her early research career as a psychology professor writing about the complex dynamics of family systems. Now Fitzpatrick, the founding dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and vice provost for special academic initiatives, will soon revisit family systems in a hands-on manner as she takes on a new role of working directly with the university’s comprehensive and Palmetto College campuses.
On July 1, she will become vice president for system planning, responsible for ensuring and improving the quality, coordination, effectiveness and long-range planning for the University of South Carolina statewide system of eight campuses across 14 locations.
“USC needs a leadership position to keep our many campuses working as a cohesive whole — where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Dr. Fitzpatrick will help us be an even more cost-effective and high-quality university,” said USC President Harris Pastides.
Fitzpatrick has served as the inaugural dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since 2005 when the college was formed by joining the former colleges of liberal arts and science and mathematics.
The president needs “a member of his executive team who will always be putting the system first in every conversation,” Fitzpatrick said. “I know how much the communities love our campuses around the state — each is critical to fulfilling the mission of the university — and I see myself as being a full-time advocate on their behalf.”
The university system is complex, Fitzpatrick said, with independently accredited comprehensive universities in Aiken, Spartanburg and Beaufort and four regional campuses now collectively called Palmetto College.
“If you’re going to educate more people than anyone else in the state, which the University of South Carolina does, then we need to make sure we’re all learning from each campus in terms of each other’s innovations and best practices,” she said. “More can be accomplished together than even the best of us can accomplish alone.”
Fitzpatrick plans to spend much of her time at the seven USC campuses around the state — Aiken, Beaufort, Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter, Spartanburg and Union — meeting with deans, chancellors and their key staff.
“This is a new chapter in my life,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m very dedicated to South Carolina and higher education in this state and see this as an opportunity to bring about systemwide innovations.”
As dean, Fitzpatrick has directed the recruitment of 300 new tenure-track faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, which opened new centers, institutes and programs and the new School of the Earth, Ocean and the Environment during her tenure. In support of academic programs, students and faculty, she has led fund-raising efforts for the college, garnering $96 million toward the Carolina’s Promise capital campaign since 2007.
In her role as associate vice president and vice provost, Fitzpatrick has spearheaded the university’s On Your Time initiative, which has reengineered the academic calendar — including an expanded summer term to create a third semester option — allowing students to graduate sooner or pursue co-ops, internships or study abroad opportunities.
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