The position of provost and vice president for academic affairs for Coastal Carolina University has officially been filled by the Former Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston Gibbs Knotts.
The news of his new position was announced on CCU’s website on Feb. 12. He was one of the four finalists in the application process, chosen by the board of trustees.
Knotts is set to start his duties on campus on July 1. Despite this, he said he has already done some studying on the campus and plans to meet with both staff and students to get a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of Coastal.
“You don’t really know for sure until you get there,” Knotts said. “So I’m going to need to spend a lot of time listening and talking to people and trying to understand, kind of, where people are, and what their vision is for the place.”
CCU President Michael Benson has already spoken to Gibbs and described him as a serious person who doesn’t take himself too seriously, which he thinks is an important characteristic to have.
Benson recognized Gibbs’ talents from his previous academic positions. He said he received a note from the President of the College of Charleston Andrew Chu, who told Benson he was stealing one of their best administrators.
“When you start getting the, kind of, reports and votes of affirmation from outside sources of people that have worked with Gibbs,” Benson said. “That makes you feel like you made the right choice. And I 110% believe we made the right choice.”
Gibbs was also given a tour of the campus by sophomore business marketing major Christopher Kokoski, who according to him, was the most engaged out of all of the candidates he gave tours to.
“At some point it was just us kind of driving around in a golf cart, having really great conversations about student life,” Kokoski said. “The different things that, you know, personally I’d like to see or asking about my perspectives on certain things on campus.”
Some students, such as senior communication major Parker England, were unaware of the new hire, but still approved of the position finally being filled.
“Granted, an interim provost is nice,” England said. “But knowing that they’re going to be here for a longer period of time will bring me more confidence that there’s actually going to be change throughout this campus.”
