November 20, 2019
Dear Members of the Huntingdon Community,
Dr. Anna McEwan, Provost and Dean of the College, has informed me that she will assume the duties of Dean of the School of Education at Samford University, effective January 2, 2020. I extend my congratulations to Dr. McEwan and my gratitude for her leadership at Huntingdon College since summer 2017, especially for her assistance in preparing the College’s strategic plan and the College’s decennial reaccreditation reports to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Dr. McEwan’s final official day in her Huntingdon office will be Friday, December 20. Between now and that date, she will work with me on a number of assignments related to the transition to new academic leadership.
Effective today, Associate Provost Dr. Thomas Perrin is assuming the position of Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty. He will serve on the President’s Executive Council, effective today, as the College’s chief academic officer. Dr. Perrin is an outstanding scholar-teacher who has served Huntingdon College with distinction both as a classroom professor and an academic administrator. He is the author of the College’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), “Vocation and the Sophomore Year Experience,” in the SACSCOC decennial report, and he is a national leader in the Council of Independent Colleges Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). I look forward especially to working with Dr. Perrin, faculty leadership, and leadership from across the College as we continue the additional vital work of recasting the culture of the First Year Experience. Our challenge is to engage fully our first year students in their curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular experiences and to afford them maximum opportunities for navigating their first year successfully and advancing to the sophomore year, graduation, and a productive life beyond the undergraduate college experience.
I will keep the College community informed about this transition in the weeks ahead. Best wishes for a happy, peaceful and safe Thanksgiving break.
Faithfully yours,
J. Cameron West
President of the College
