On March 6 Coastal Carolina University announced the appointment of Carrie L. Zelna, Ph.D., as the new vice president for student affairs after a nationwide search.
Zelna will join the Chanticleers after nearly three decades in higher education, where she most recently served as the senior associate vice chancellor in the Division of Academic and Student Affairs at North Carolina State University.
The university’s marketing and communications department sent a campus wide email to inform the individuals of the change in leadership.
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Zelna to Coastal Carolina University and am confident that our university community will benefit greatly from her leadership,” CCU President James J. Winebrake, Ph.D., said in the email. “Her career reflects a deep and enduring commitment to student growth, belonging, and success. I am excited to see the impact she will make as we continue to boldly build an environment where every Chanticleer is thriving.”
According to the email, Zelna previously oversaw teams with a combined budget of $19 million and helped the university identify at-risk students using a predictive analytics application.
Her work also secured more than 600,000 dollars in grants and private funding towards the predictive analytics application at NC State University. Zelna additionally served as a member of the graduate faculty where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses.
Zelna will officially join the university on May 18.
