The University System of Maryland has turned to a veteran college administrator from New York to take over as president of Coppin State University, the historically black West Baltimore institution that has battled financial problems and poor graduation rates.
Evelyn Maria Thompson, 53, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at the State University of New York at Oneonta, will become Coppin's seventh president and the first woman to hold the position when she takes over July 1.
Thompson, who uses her middle name, Maria, will replace Mortimer H. Neufville, who has served as interim president since 2013.
Thompson spent 13 years helping to direct research and sponsored programs at Tennessee State University, a historically black institution in Nashville, before taking her position at SUNY Oneonta in 2011.
"Dr. Thompson has had such an impressive career in higher education," said William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, who praised her work at SUNY Oneonta to advance the quality of academic programs and her leadership of research programs at Tennessee State.
Her academic and administrative track record strike many as a good fit for Coppin State, where the faculty gave Neufville's predecessor, Reginald Avery, a vote of no confidence three years ago largely because of what they described as financial mismanagement, low morale and a graduation rate that hovered at about 15 percent, the lowest in the state.
In 2011, the school failed to distribute $800,000 in need-based student aid and to fill three of five dean positions. The graduation rate bottomed out at 13 percent. Avery resigned in 2013.
At Tennessee State, Thompson developed and carried out a plan that expanded the school's externally funded projects program, swelling its budget to more than $45 million, in part by focusing on grants and contracts that gave students more experiential learning opportunities, Maryland officials said.
And as the top academic officer at SUNY Oneonta, she led the educational efforts of a university of 6,000 students and oversaw institutional accreditation, curricular planning and the career development of more than 500 university educators.
She initiated the campus' first academic master plan and restructured the division of academic affairs, consolidating the school's long-term strategic position, officials said.
"I look forward to working with the [Coppin] faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders to continue the university's commitment to preparing graduates who are analytical, socially responsible and lifelong learners," Thompson said in a statement.
At Coppin State, she takes over a 115-year-old school with a long history of producing nurses, teachers and other professionals. The university offers 33 majors and 12 graduate degree programs with courses in nursing, business, teacher education, science, engineering and mathematics.
The student body of about 3,000 draws heavily from Baltimore, and many need to complete remedial work after enrolling.
In 2013, an oversight committee investigating conditions at Coppin State for the Maryland Board of Regents reported it had found evidence of serious mismanagement.
Among other problems, the report said, the size of the faculty grew by 49 percent and the administration by 92 percent even as enrollment fell by 3 percent.
"What we found was significant misalignment between where faculty and administrative resources were placed and where the students" needed them to be, state Sen. Delores G. Kelley, a Baltimore County Democrat who served on the committee, said at the time.
The panel recommended sweeping changes, including the elimination of some administrative positions and low-priority courses, stiffening admissions requirements and improving marketing efforts.
The Board of Regents replaced Avery with an interim president so he could spend two years getting started on the changes before the next long-term leader took over.
Neufville accomplished that, according to one prominent faculty member, balancing the budget, hiring an enrollment manager to improve outreach and raising graduation rates to 16 to 18 percent. (The first figure comes from the university system, the second from the Maryland Higher Education Commission.)
"We aren't where we want to be, but Dr. Neufville has put us in a position where there's a good chance for improvement in the next few years," said John L. Hudgins, chairman of Coppin's department of social sciences and president of its chapter of the American Association of University Professors. "I've seen Dr. Thompson's resume, and I'm optimistic she'll be able to take us in that direction."
Tiffany Jones, a university spokeswoman, said about 600 graduate and undergraduate students received diplomas last weekend.
"We were filled to the gills with happy parents, friends and loved ones," she said, adding that graduation figures do not include the many transfer students from community colleges who earn Coppin diplomas.
Del. Adrienne A. Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat who chairs an education subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, said she hadn't met Thompson yet, but that from what she has read, she is looking forward to sitting down with the new leader and hearing her thoughts.
"She will be the first woman president, and that will bring a positive perspective. It's a great idea to bring in a person with a background at a historically black university. And it's a good time for a person with ideas to come in," Jones said. "If everyone listens, we should be able to grow Coppin into a successful institution."
Thompson will begin at an annual salary of $275,000.