The University System of Maryland has established a Board of Regents Special Review Committee to review Coppin State University and develop strategies to enhance the success of the university in the future.
The first public hearing by this review committee will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at Coppin State.
The plan was first approved in December 2012 when it was introduced by USM Chancellor William Kirwan.
The creation of the committee came on the heels of then-President Reginald Avery announcing he would resign his position in October 2012. Avery’s resignation took effect Jan. 22.
Since then, Mortimer Neufville, who was interim president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in June 2012.
Avery had received a vote of no confidence in 2011 by the faculty at Coppin State for “lacking vision and before his initiatives to improve the state’s lowest graduation rates have shown any progress,” according to a Baltimore Sun article.
The historically black Coppin State has 3,295 students enrolled. When Avery first came to the school in 2008, he set a goal of improving Coppin’s six-year graduation rate from 20 percent to 50 percent within three years, however, the rate fell to a low of 13 percent, then rebounded to 15 percent during his tenure.
The review committee is chaired by Freeman A. Hrabowski III, who has served as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County since 1992. Hrabowski served as the vice president for academic affairs at Coppin State before joining UMBC in 1987 as vice provost.
Any member of the general public or the campus community is eligible to speak at the hearing.