FMU Trustees extend Carter’s contract to 2023

Francis Marion University’s Board of Trustees extended University President Dr. Fred Carter’s contract for three additional years at its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday on campus. Carter is in the 19th year of his presidency. The extension runs to July 1, 2023.

The trustee vote on the extension was unanimous.

Robert E. Lee, chair of the board of trustees, called the extension a “signal achievement” for the University.

“Fred Carter’s leadership has taken Francis Marion University to unparalleled heights,” said Lee. “There’s no action we can take that will impact the future of FMU more positively than securing Fred Carter as our leader for the years ahead.”

Carter said he is looking forward to the his future with the University.

“There’s no place else that Folly (Mrs. Carter) and I would rather be, and no group of people with whom we’d rather work,” Carter said.

Carter is the longest-serving president in FMU history and the longest-serving public college or university president in South Carolina.

Carter arrived at FMU in 1999. During his almost two decades in the post, he’s presided over significant advances in the University’s mission and resources. During this time, the University has awarded more than 12,000 degrees and has added 17 new academic programs, including the school’s first doctoral program (Doctor of Nursing Practice last year).

Under Carter’s leadership the school has raised $92.5 million in private dollars, and in the process has quadrupled FMU’s education endowment.

FMU’s campus has expanded significantly during Carter’s tenure. Twelve new campus buildings have been constructed, virtually all without incurring debt; and six new residence halls have been built. The construction includes the creation of FMU’s new downtown campus which includes the Carter Center for Health Sciences, the FMU Performing Arts Center and the FMU Recording Studio. Two additional projects are currently underway downtown — the renovation of the Old Post Office Building for more Health Sciences classroom space and the renovation of the Rainwater Building which will house FMU’s Kelley Business Center. A new building to house FMU’s Honors Center is planned for the main campus in the next few years as well.

Carter is a Florida native who served on the Political Science faculties at Western Kentucky University, the University of Central Florida and the College of Charleston. He was also a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve and enjoyed an extensive career in government. Carter was a member of Gov. Carroll Campbell’s staff (senior executive for finance and administration), the executive director of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, and the chief of staff of Gov. Mark Sanford.

Carter has also served on a number of the boards of a number of community organizations and institutions, and has been instrumental in forging partnerships between FMU, local governments, state governments, businesses, and non-profit organizations.