Former CSU administrator named interim president of another Georgia university
A former Columbus State University administrator has been appointed interim president of another University System of Georgia.
Stuart Rayfield, who was CSU’s Servant Leadership Program director before she became interim president of Bainbridge State College in June 2016, will be the interim president of the University of West Georgia, USG chancellor Steve Wrigley announced Wednesday.
Rayfield will succeed interim West Georgia president Micheal Crafton, whose resignation is effective Dec. 16, the end of the fall semester.
Crafton will return to the faculty in the spring semester to teach in UWG’s College of Education, according to the system’s news release. The Associated Press reported that Crafton resigned after campus protests over possible faculty layoffs because of budget cuts.
The original vacancy at West Georgia was created when Kyle Marrero left to become president of Georgia Southern in April.
Rayfield is USG’s vice chancellor for leadership and institutional development. She previously was interim president of Gordon State College.
At CSU, Rayfield was associate professor and the Frank Brown Distinguished Chair in Servant Leadership for 10 years. She also served for several months as interim associate provost for undergraduate education.
Before she came to CSU, Rayfield was coordinator of special projects at Auburn University (2004-06) and an instructional designer for Columbus-based credit card and payments processor TSYS (2004-2006).
She earned a doctorate in leadership, policy and organizations from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Rhodes College.
“I am confident that Dr. Rayfield will assume this leadership role seamlessly and with great dedication and enthusiasm,” Wrigley said in the news release. “I am thankful for the efforts of both Drs. Crafton and Rayfield on behalf of UWG.”
Rayfield said in the news release, “UWG is a vibrant campus community with students, faculty and staff eager to share their thoughts and ideas on how to strengthen UWG for the future. I am eager to hit the ground running.”
