Albany State president Portia Holmes Shields to step down

<p>Albany State University president Portia Holmes Shields, the first female to serve in the post, is stepping down June 30, University System Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith said Monday.</p><p>Shields has been president of the 101-year-old university since 1996, when she was hired from Howard University where she had been dean of the school of education.</p><p>"Dr. Shields has led Albany State through some extraordinarily challenging times and provided outstanding leadership during her tenure," Meredith said.</p><p>"While saying goodbye is never easy, I am extremely pleased by the many positive programs and initiatives we have implemented at the university that will continue for years to come," Shields said.</p><p>Shields took over after the 1994 floods had consumed nearly two-thirds of Albany State's 204-acre campus. She led a $153 million flood-recovery program that has revitalized the southwest Georgia school.</p><p>The student body has grown from 3,100 to almost 3,700, and Albany State has the third-highest retention rate among the University System's 34 colleges and universities _ 83 percent _ behind only Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. Average SAT scores of incoming freshmen have jumped more than 120 points since 1996.</p><p>Three new bachelor's degree programs have been added _ in mass communication, criminal investigations and security studies, and forensic science.</p><p>As a fund-raiser, Shields was instrumental in obtaining a $3 million donation from musician Ray Charles, an Albany native, in 2002 and procured more than $25 million in external grant funds in the following academic year.</p><p>However, earlier this year, Albany State received the worst rating possible in a state audit that found the school failed to provide adequate controls over cash flow, accounts receivable, inventories and capital assets.</p><p>Shields, appearing before the University System Board of Regents' Audit Committee in June, blamed the problem on the loss of key financial managers.</p><p>Meredith will begin a search for a replacement early next year.</p>