Columbus State administrator to be interim president elsewhere

A Columbus State University administrator will be the interim president of another institution in the University System of Georgia.

USG chancellor Hank Huckaby has named Stuart Rayfield as interim president of Bainbridge State College. She will assume those duties June 1, according to the system’s news release.

Rayfield, director of CSU’s Servant Leadership Program, has been an associate professor and the Frank Brown Distinguished Chair in Servant Leadership for 10 years. She also has been serving the past several months as interim associate provost for undergraduate education. During that time, Servant Leadership Program assistant director Wendi Jenkins has been filling in for her.

As interim associate provost, Rayfield’s responsibilities have included co-leading CSU’s effort to receive re-accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as overseeing the Academic Center for Excellence, the dual enrollment program and the Faculty Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning

“Stuart is well qualified to provide leadership at Bainbridge State,” Huckaby said in the release. “Her experience in servant leadership and student affairs will be a great fit for the college and community.”

“We are thrilled that Dr. Rayfield has been selected for this position,” CSU president Chris Markwood said in the release. “The students, faculty and staff at Bainbridge will quickly learn what we already know: Stuart is a dynamic leader who improves the organizations around her. She will excel in this new role, and we wish her great success.”

In a phone interview Friday with the Ledger-Enquirer, Rayfield said she wasn’t looking to leave CSU, “but this opportunity is too exciting to pass up.”

After visiting Bainbridge, she said, “I learned the city is a great place to be. It’s very supportive of the college, which reminds me of Columbus, just on a much smaller scale.”

CSU’s enrollment this semester is 8,071 in a city of approximately 203,000; Bainbridge State’s enrollment is 2,205 in a city of approximately 12,500

Rayfield expects her interim presidency to last 12-18 months. Then she wants to return to CSU in some capacity.

“My husband and two daughters will be staying in Columbus, so we have no intention to move,” she said. “I’m hoping CSU will have me back. I’ve had some good conversations with Dr. Markwood about those possibilities. There’s no guarantees any which way, but my plan is to be back in Columbus and hopefully at Columbus State.”

At Bainbridge State, Rayfield will replace interim president Shawn McGee, who has been appointed vice president for fiscal affairs at Albany State University. McGee, who was vice president for business and operations at Bainbridge, has served as Bainbridge’s interim president since December, when Richard Carvajal was appointed interim president of Darton State College. Carvajal replaced Paul Jones, who became president of Fort Valley State University. Jones succeeded Ivelaw Griffith, who resigned.

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.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Columbus State administrator to be interim president elsewhere."