Winthrop finalist Shao gives nod to Knowledge Park partnership
Andrew Kiel/WRHI
At the College of Charleston, Alan Shao and his 800-plus colleagues on staff are responsible for shaping the minds of about 11,000 students studying — and living — in one of the south’s oldest cities.
At Winthrop, the faculty and staff census is a bit smaller and the student body is about half the size. The school, by contrast, sits on the fringe of an up-and-coming development fueled by the city, private business and, hopefully, a New Jersey-based company.
Shao, a marketing professor and dean at CofC overseeing the school’s College of Business, lit up Tuesday afternoon while speaking with reporters on the prospects of the Knowledge Park corridor.
“What I see is an opportunity for a marriage between academics…and the community,” Shao said. “I see a learning laboratory in Knowledge Park in that students can get practical experience before they graduate…students can be entertained…I see Knowledge Park as a haven for mentors.”
An hour before, Shao spoke before a standing-room only, overflow crowd of professors and staffers, explaining his plans on growing the student body, growing the university’s foundation and developing new programs of study.
All of which, he later said, tie into the Knowledge Park concept as a means of keeping current students and recruiting new freshmen.
“You’re really talking about a win-win situation: the students are winning, the community is winning. And if the president isn’t in the middle of all this there’s a big problem,” Shao said. “It’s right next door.”
Shao is the third of three finalists to visit the campus since late February, including Jeff Elwell of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Daniel Mahony of Kent State University in Ohio.
Winthrop’s Board of Trustees are expected to make their decision on the school’s eleventh president by the end of March with the hope of having the new hire in place by July 1.
