Aug. 22, 2012
For Immediate Release

By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Dr. Michael V. Carter, president of Campbellsville University, will be the first chapel speaker for the fall 2012 semester at Campbellsville University.

He will address students, faculty, staff and coaches at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29 at Ransdell Chapel, 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville. The public is invited to attend.

Carter is in his 14th year as president of Campbellsville University. Under his leadership, Campbellsville University has been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, ranked as a top regional university in the south by U.S.News & World Report, listed among America's Best Christian Colleges, rated as a Military Friendly School and named a Champions of Character Institution by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Carter began his first decade of presidential leadership Aug. 1, 2009. That leadership has produced significant growth in student enrollment and number and quality of academic programs, fundraising success and enhanced campus facilities and aesthetics.

During Carter's leadership, characterized by a “students are always first” mantra, enrollment has grown from 1,600 in the fall of 1998 to an expected near 3,600 in the fall of 2012 likely resulting in a record enrollment.

Classes start Monday, Aug. 27, for evening classes at 5:15 p.m. or later, and at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. for day classes. Students however can still enroll by contacting the Office of Admissions at admissions@campbellsville.edu or (270) 789-5220.

A string of new facilities on campus have alumni and friends “wishing that had been here when I was a student there.” The newest facilities include a new men's Residence Village housing 48 students; a Chick-fil-A® Express on campus, which is also open to the public; a new coffee/tea area inside Montgomery Library with a patio area outside the building; and the beginning stages of a new entrance to the university called Alumni & Friends Park.

Several new academic programs have been added with CU now offering 63 options at the baccalaureate level, 17 master's degrees and five post-graduate specializations.

New regional sites have been opened with classes being offered in Louisville, Somerset, Elizabethtown, Bowling Green, Radcliff, northern Kentucky and Clear Creek Bible Baptist.

National program accreditation has been secured for the School of Business and Economics, School of Education and Carver School of Social Work including the new initial accreditation of the Master of Social Work. The School of Music has continued its national accreditation.

Campus aesthetics have been improved with fountains, benches and swings, landscaping and new trees.
Also, during Carter's leadership, the Board of Trustees has approved Vision 2025, a bold blueprint for the continuing growth and development of Campbellsville University. Vision 2025 serves as the outline for the future of the institution for the next several years.

Carter has emphasized servant leadership as exemplified with the founding of the Kentucky Heartland Outreach ministry that provides housing improvements for deserving families and establishment of the FIRST CLASS freshman year program with emphasis on character, servant leadership and stewardship.

Carter has served as president of Campbellsville University since 1999. He was provost and vice president for academic affairs, as well as professor of sociology, at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn., from 1985 until he became president of CU.

Carter is a 1976 graduate of Marshall University where he received his bachelor of arts degree. In 1979, he received his master of arts degree, also from Marshall. He did additional graduate study at Andover-Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Mass.

He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1984. His dissertation was on “Extent and Direction of Rural Community Change: A Social Impact Assessment of Reservoir Development.”

In addition to his success as a higher education administrator, Carter is author of several book chapters and journal articles ranging from Higher Education (Mission and Service) to Religion & Life in Appalachia, Rural Youth Drug Abuse and Community Change.

Carter has taught some sociology classes at CU also. Carter is a member of and deacon at Campbellsville Baptist Church.

Carter is married to Debbie Carter, assistant professor of social work at CU. They have three children: Dr. Eric Carter, who is chair of the sociology department at Georgetown College; Alicia Carter Shea, a special education teacher in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Wesley Carter, who is pursuing his master's of business administration degree at Campbellsville University and working for a private business.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.