Winthrop board suspends president; Boyd named as interim CEO

With less than a year under belt as president of Winthrop University, Jamie Comstock Williamson’s days as head of the liberal arts institution are all but over.

Williamson was given a notice of termination Friday by the university’s board of trustees.

After seven hours behind closed doors, Winthrop’s Board of Trustees voted 12 to 1 to terminate Williamson for cause, giving her the opportunity to address the board and ask them to reconsider June 26.

While the reasons for Williamson’s notice of termination are were not made public, the board’s decision follows a series of media reports chronicling her approval of raises for the university’s executive staff without board approval, hiring her husband as a temporary employee and changing her name this spring at a cost to the university.

Debra Boyd, Winthrop’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, was appointed as the university’s chief executive officer until further notice.

“Before the board can make a determination of cause, she has to be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard,” said Karl Folkens, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Williamson, previously known as Jayne Marie Comstock, was hired as Winthrop’s tenth president in February 2013 and succeeded Anthony DiGiorgio on July 1, 2013.

Previous coverage:

It has no doubt been a busy week for Winthrop University — and today, the board of trustees are meeting for a special session to discuss “contractual matters” relating to President Jamie Comstock Williamson.

While the details of the special session will remain closed, here a few news items of interest that have come to light in recent months that may be a part of those discussions.

• Winthrop president changes name to Jamie Comstock Williamson
• Cost of Winthrop president’s name change: $2,306
• Higher Pay in Higher Ed, Part 1: Big Raises at Winthrop
• Higher Pay in Higher Ed, Part 2: State approval for raises no longer needed
• Higher Pay in Higher Ed, Part 3: Decision-making at the local level
• Winthrop reduces bachelor’s degree requirement to 120 hours
• Winthrop board calls special meeting to discuss Williamson’s contract
• Winthrop President returns husband’s salary to university

Below, we’ve activated a Live Blog to bring you details of the events in which are staff are able to view. Should the meeting include any form of official statement, we plan to carry it live on News Talk 94.3 WRHI and WRHI.com. A link will be posted here as well.