James Winebrake begins his career as Coastal Carolina University’s fourth president with a humble yet ambitious start.
“I’m thinking about what’s next for Coastal and what’s on the immediate horizon and the long-term horizon,” Winebrake said. “A lot of listening, and I’ll continue to do a lot of listening. Listening of students, faculty, staff, community members, to really understand how we can best position the university for its ongoing trajectory in elevation as a university.”
With a doctoral degree in energy management and policy, Winebrake has over two decades of completed education and research, scholarly articles authored and coauthored along with national and international recognition earned. Nine years as dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology followed by five years as the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) led him to this next step as a university president.
“UNCW is also on the coast, so I had an opportunity to really get to love the types of programming and research and student activities that happen in a coastal environment,” Winebrake said.
But what intrigued Winebrake was more than just CCU’s scenic location by the beach. Looking at universities through lenses of mission and culture, he said Coastal has it all.
“The mission of Coastal really align well with my education philosophy. And the culture here is exciting and supportive, and I’ve learned that more and more every day that I’m here,” Winebrake said.
But it’s the trajectory of the university that really caught his eye.
“It’s a university that has opportunity to grow and grow sustainably, to expand research portfolio, to expand its academic program portfolio,” Winebrake said. “It’s really well embedded in the community, with great partnerships and relationships with local government and state government, and nonprofits and for-profit companies.
To expand CCU’s academic program and research portfolios, Winebrake is observing and evaluating current programs as well as future academic development.
“Looking at our academic portfolio, the types of programs we offer at the undergraduate and graduate level, and thinking through, do we have the right mix of programs? Are there areas that we could be expanding, given the evolution in this region of where some of the needs are, or where the student demand is for programming?” Winebrake said.
The new CCU president is specifically looking forward to discussing academic and research development with faculty, staff, but involving students in the conversation as well.
“I think great universities have four Ps: people, places, programs and partners,” Winebrake said. “I think the most important of all those Ps are the people. And so, I’m very excited to get to know the people; understand what they’re doing, what they’re passionate about, how they want to see this university evolve and develop.”
