The Rev. William S. Cain, chairman of the Erskine Board of Trustees, announced today that Dr. Paul Kooistra of Suwannee, Ga., has been appointed president of Erskine College and Theological Seminary.  

"I am thrilled to have Dr. Paul Kooistra as president and part of the Erskine family," Cain said. "He is a time-tested leader who lives out his life with grace and humility before the Lord."

Kooistra, who has headed Mission to the World (MTW), an agency of the Presbyterian Church in America, since 1994, previously served for nearly a decade as president of Covenant Theological Seminary in Creve Coeur, Mo. He has gained a reputation for transformational leadership in challenging circumstances.

His experience in the field of higher education has included service on the faculties of Belhaven College, Reformed School of Education, and Reformed Theological Seminary. Earlier in his career, he served two pastorates in Florida and was principal of a Christian day school.

Kooistra announced plans to step back from his longtime leadership role at Mission to the World about a year ago.

Praising Kooistra as "a man who has wonderfully served Christ's church in numerous capacities with great ability and deep humility," President Emeritus of Covenant Theological Seminary Dr. Bryan Chapell said, "He has been a youth pastor, a minister of Christian education, a preacher, a Christian school leader, a professor, a mission leader, an author, a friend to many-and a leader of remarkable courage and insight when we most needed it."

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SCICU members Columbia College and Furman University were recognized recently as Great Colleges to Work For (2014) by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Ninety-two colleges were highlighted in one or more of the 12 recognition categories based on a survey of 278 participants in the 7th annual Great Colleges to Work For survey administered by ModernThink LLC and The Chronicle. Recognition categories included a range of workplace quality and climate measures including confidence in senior leadership, compensation and benefits, respect and appreciation, work/life balance, and facilities, workspace and security.

This year's Great Colleges to Work For survey, based on responses from more than 43,000 campus employees, finds that successful academic workplaces create a culture of accountability. They also promote common values through strong shared-governance policies, making employees feel that they are all players on the same team. 

The PASCAL Board of Directors is responsible for allocating the additional appropriations for the benefit of the member libraries. Coker College's Alexa Bartel, Director of Library, is the Board treasurer. Other SCICU library directors on the PASCAL Board include Dave Chatham from Presbyterian College, John Kennerly from Erskine College, and Stephanie Solomon from Columbia International University.

This is the third consecutive year that PASCAL received lottery funds. In the FY 2014-15 state budget, PASCAL is included at $1.5 million as the first item in the list of initiatives to be funded with any excess unclaimed prize funds above $8 million. PASCAL continues to be a legislative priority of SCICU. 

At the Board of Trustees meeting in September, the Development Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Lonnie Emard, will report on its efforts to raise money to fund scholarships at SCICU's 20 member institutions. A key component of the committee's campaign is the strong and unselfish support of SCICU's trustees. Each year, the Development Committee looks forward to receiving 100% support from fellow board members and from the SCICU staff.

Individual, corporate, or directed gifts need to be received at the SCICU office by the end of the fiscal year on August 31 to be included in the annual report. For more information, please contact SCICU Executive Vice President Eddie Shannon at [email protected]. 

We would like to post accomplishments of our members on our Member College News section of our website and feature a few of the outstanding links in our monthly newsletter.

Here are some of the articles we featured this month:

• SWU pilots student run coffeehouse, golf facility 
• Benedict: 2014 Palmetto Capital City Classic

Let us share your news and celebrate your successes. Send your releases to Stephenie Helland at [email protected].  

To see all of our Member College News, please click here.