Former Carolina student, administrator excited about coming home
Elson S. Floyd, executive director of the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board, has been named to the new post of vice chancellor and chief of staff.
Floyd, who begins work Sept. 1, will coordinate daily activities of the chancellor's office and serve as an adviser, planner and trouble-shooter on matters across campus, Chancellor Michael K. Hooker said.
"In Dr. Elson Floyd I have found someone exceedingly well qualified, almost uniquely so, to serve as my chief of staff," Hooker said. "His familiarity with campus, both as a student and an employee, is very strong. Since leaving Chapel Hill, Dr. Floyd has had ever-increasing administrative responsibilities which have prepared him well for this new assignment."
Floyd will have a role similar to White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, he said.
"Dr. Floyd will handle the routine management functions of the chancellor's office," Hooker said. "This will free me up to spend more time doing those things that only the chancellor can do, whether it be meeting on campus with faculty, staff and students or off-campus with legislators, donors and citizen groups."
Floyd said he was excited about returning to his alma mater to fill this newly created post.
"It's a great challenge, but one I look forward to because of my love for the University," he said in a telephone interview last week.
The position probably is going to take on a number of different dimensions, Floyd said, with many of the duties evolving over time because the position is new. Generally, he said, he will help coordinate activities initiated by the chancellor and deal with cross-campus issues--ones that don't specifically fall in any vice chancellor's area.
"The chancellor is very proactive and a lot of issues are very important to him and to the University, so there are going to be a lot of balls in the air and it is going to be my responsibility to make sure they don't fall and get lost," he said.
Hooker said some specific areas that Floyd would concentrate on immediately were strategic planning and implementation of the recommendations and suggestions in the recent reaccreditation self-study. He also will be working on the search for the vice chancellor for student affairs, which is being extended, Hooker said.
Floyd said one of his goals was to develop an effective, long-term strategic planning model for Carolina. Stronger campus planning was one of the suggestions in the self-study report.
He said he saw his job as enhancing the effectiveness of the other vice chancellors.
"This position by being available to coordinate pan-university issues will allow each of the vice chancellors to focus more attention on their own specific responsibilities," he said. "I look forward to working with everyone in meeting the needs of the University and the state."
Getting to know Carolina again also will be on Floyd's agenda when he starts Sept. 1.
"The first part of my time," he said, "will be devoted to becoming acquainted or reacquainted with some of the issues at Carolina and becoming much more familiar with some of the areas, primarily in health affairs, that I did not have much contact with when I was there before."
Floyd spent 13 years as an administrator at Carolina and UNC system general administration and earned doctor of philosophy, master's of education and bachelor's of arts degrees here in 1984, 1982 and 1978, respectively.
As chief executive and administrative officer with the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board since 1993, Floyd has been responsible for developing and articulating higher education policy for the state's public colleges and universities. His duties include administering the statewide student financial aid programs for public and private campuses and working with the Washington legislature.
Before joining the board, Floyd was executive vice president at Eastern Washington University, where he served as chief operating, administrative and student services officer from 1992 to 1993. In previous positions at Eastern Washington, Floyd was vice president for administration and vice president for student services.
Floyd served from 1988 to 1990 as assistant vice president for student services in the UNC system's General Administration. He helped develop and carry out student and academic affairs policies.
His administrative experience at Carolina included stints in the College of Arts and Sciences and the General College as associate dean for academic services and assistant dean. Those assignments involved working with academic support and student advising services.
In the Division of Student Affairs, he had been assistant dean, serving as liaison with the College of Arts and Sciences and the General College; special assistant to the vice chancellor and dean; and assistant dean for student life and judicial programs officer. He also advised students in the General College.
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