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The business of academics: C of C’s new president moves the historic college into the future
By Kristen Poland
Staff Writer
Stepping out of the second-floor stairwell in Randolph Hall, the oldest structure on the College of Charleston campus, visitors find themselves in the midst of antique furniture pieces and ornate décor that capture the elegance and pride associated with South Carolina’s past.
At the end of a hall, lined with artwork that tells the tale of the college’s storied 237-year past, sits the president’s office.
Each day, college President George Benson goes about his tasks under the watchful eye of Harrison Randolph, C of C president from 1897 to 1945, whose portrait hangs over the fireplace.
The college’s 21st president, Benson has occupied this office only since February. However, he understands the rich tradition of the university, and of the city.
Even the school’s reluctance to change its name from the College of Charleston, despite its standing as a university, is proof of its love for tradition.
Benson knows he must uphold and strengthen those traditions, and yet he understands change is both inevitable and necessary.
The university is outgrowing its campus faster than infrastructure can be put in place. Classrooms are crowded, parking is scarce and yet applications continue to pour in.
Formerly the dean of the University of Georgia’s Terry School of Business, Benson brings to the college expertise in business blended with an understanding and love for academics.
Benson said he thinks his dual citizenship in the worlds of business and academics makes him a perfect fit to guide the college through a structured and positive growth that preserves the university’s history while moving it into the future.
Influenced by his father, Paul Benson, who was both an entrepreneur and a college statistics professor, George Benson developed at an early age the desire to be president of his own company.
As he worked his way through college and graduate school, he realized a love for academia and decided to begin his career not as an executive but as an assistant professor at what is now the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
Within a short time, Benson found his way into administration, first at Minnesota, then as dean of Rutgers University’s business school, and finally at Terry.
“I am a person who’s come through the academic ranks, but I’m grounded in business,” Benson said. “I have the ability to understand the faculty’s needs, dreams and problems but, I also understand the business of central administration.”
Armed with that understanding, Benson is leading the process of overhauling the college’s administrative infrastructure.
He’s implementing business discipline inside the institution’s administration, working on a new budget process, incentive programs for faculty and staff and new computer systems.
“A lot of blocking and tackling needs to be done,” Benson said. “I don’t know if we’ve had a good handle on what needs to be done to move the college ahead.”
But move ahead it must, and one thing the college needs to do in order to grow efficiently is increase its external revenue.
State appropriations have decreased over the last few years, and if that trend continues, the college must find other ways to generate money.
In order to do this, Benson said he thinks the college must be treated like a business in some aspects.
“The college needs to be more self-sufficient so that it can buffer itself from the ups and downs of the economy,” Benson said. “The university is not a business, but there are parts—including central administration—where if you treat it as a business, you’re better off in the long run.”
During his nine-year tenure at Terry, Benson’s revenue-generation model increased the school’s external revenue from $270,000 to $6.3 million annually.
Benson warned that he doesn’t expect the college to reach those numbers because much of Terry’s success is because of the size of Atlanta, but he said the college could enjoy much higher revenue than it is now.
One way to generate revenue is to implement non-degree short courses aimed toward executive education that would appeal to managers and entrepreneurs. Money from these programs would help support the undergraduate and graduate programs, scholarship opportunities and diversity initiatives, he said.
Programs like these are important in a climate where continued education is necessary to advance a career, Benson said.
The days of college, then career, then retirement are gone. Now, he said, the lines between education and career are blurred.
“Continuing education is important throughout a career,” Benson said. “This could be a new horizon for the College of Charleston. We have 15,000 alumni in the Charleston area, and there is so much more we could do to reach out to them.”
Kristen Poland is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kpoland@setcommedia.com.
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