Queens University of Charlotte president to step down in 2019 after 16 years of change

Pamela Davies, who led Queens University of Charlotte as it transformed from a quiet liberal arts college to a university offering master's degrees and a suite of professional programs, said Tuesday she will step down after 16 years as president.

Davies, 61, isn't leaving Queens. She plans to leave the job as president at the end of the 2018-19 academic year, in June 2019, take a sabbatical year for research and writing but return as a professor of strategy in Queens' McColl School of Business.

Her doctorate in strategic planning proved to be a timely fit for the leafy campus in Myers Park. For most of its 161 years, until 1987, Queens admitted only women. Last fall, men made up 40 percent of the incoming class. Davies took office in 2002 with a vision of what else a small, private university set in the heart of a fast-growing city could become.

She doubled enrollment to 2,500 students, pulling in nontraditional students like working adults and putting courses online. The school invested more than $100 million in new buildings and other infrastructure improvements. Davies also helped pull in new donors with no previous connection to Queens, raising more than $280 million in philanthropic gifts during her term.

"The single thing I'm most proud of is that we brought together a team of people who are passionate about this institution," she said Tuesday. "It's like anything else, if you have a compelling vision and if you treat people with respect and honor, it builds momentum."

Davies stayed on as president to shepherd through a $20 million fundraising campaign, completed early this year, for one last campus project. Work will start this summer on the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for Arts and Civic Engagement, which will transform an existing 50-year-old building considered the "front porch" of the campus into a state-of-the-art meeting space.

“Pamela personifies the very essence of the institution she leads," board chairman Michael Tarwater said in a statement. "She’s an inspirational leader with a powerful combination of business acumen and heart. Her vigorous and disciplined approach to strategic planning set the vision for a remarkable slate of accomplishments over her 16 years as president."

Tarwater, the former Carolinas HealthCare System CEO, has worked with Davies on a transition of leadership as the school completes a three-year strategic plan.

Small colleges and universities face pressure from changing student demographics, stagnant tuition revenues and demands by the public to better prepare students for careers. The three prongs of Queens' 2020 plan include broadened exposure of students to life outside the classroom; a new focus on the growing number of adult students; and a recommitment to core institutional values and campus culture.

Like many other universities, Queens has refocused on graduating students with real job skills. The school says 98 percent of its students are employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation. But Davies realized that Queens had to be not only a fundamentally better school, but also one that sets itself apart from competitors.

Davies flavors her own career with outside interests, serving on the corporate boards of Sonoco Products and Cato Corp. and on the board of advisers of Atrium Health, formerly Carolina HealthCare System. She was the first female chair of the YMCA of Greater Charlotte and is chair-elect for the national board of the YMCA. In 2017 she was named Charlotte's Woman of the Year.

She wants Queens students to have the same richness of experience such as through international study, community service or mentoring.

"We believe that what differentiates us is a small, intimate campus with personalized learning experiences for students but in a vibrant city that provides students opportunities off campus," she said. "That’s what I want to provide for our students — just a broader lens on the world than a classroom setting."

Under Davies, Queens expanded its menu of liberal arts and professional programs for both traditional students and adults who didn't enroll right out of high school. The Presbyterian School of Nursing, the Cato School of Education, the Knight School of Communication and the Blair College of Health were added and the university expanded its master's degree and online offerings.

Davies used her expertise in competitive and marketing strategy to lead branding and recruiting campaigns that doubled both student enrollment and full-time faculty. U.S. News and World Report ranked Queens 20th among Southern universities this year.

Since Davies took office in 2002, the university has invested more than $130 million in new academic buildings, housing, athletic and recreation facilities. The university also partnered with Mecklenburg County on a 65-acre sports complex at the county's Marion Diehl Park.

Queens' endowment grew from $30 million when Davies took office to $146 million, in part because of a $35 million gift last year by the late philanthropist Porter Byrum. It finished raising $110 million for campus infrastructure in 2011, and since then has raised more than $172 million for academic programs, scholarships and capital projects.

The school's next president will have to continue to build Queens' brand regionally and nationally, Davies said. She hopes the new leader will make a priority of helping make the school more affordable for middle-income families, who often are shut out of needs-based aid.

Davies came to Queens in 2000 as dean of the McColl School of Business, then succeeded the late Billy Wireman as president. The former Queens College also changed its name that year, 2002, as its growing graduate programs led to reclassification as a master’s level university.

She credits her predecessors with creating a warm and supportive environment in which to try new things. "I only take credit for not having screwed that up," she said.

Queens trustees will form a search committee to be led by past chair Michael Marsicano, president and CEO of Foundation for the Carolinas.

“Pamela has generated incredible momentum for Queens and built a culture that values collaboration, progress and optimism," Marsicano said in a statement. "We are confident we will find a new leader who will embrace those traditions and lead us in the exciting work of building on the foundation laid by Pamela and the entire Queens community.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Queens University of Charlotte president to step down in 2019 after 16 years of change."