Amid financial concerns, Averett University names new leadership

Averett University announced Wednesday that its board has appointed David Joyce as its 15^th president. Tiffany Franks, who has served nearly 17 years as president of the Danville private university, will retire Jan. 5, 2025.

The leadership change comes following months of headlines about the school’s financial woes and cost-saving measures like staff furloughs and program cuts.

In September, Averett announced that Donald Merricks, a retired bank president, former state delegate and a two-time alumnus, had stepped in as the school’s interim chief financial officer. A news release did not address why the position was empty.

And in November, the university decided to eliminate five undergraduate majors — art, chemistry, math, modern languages and religion — as well as the criminal justice master’s degree and the symphonic band program, according to the Danville Register & Bee.

Cassie Williams Jones, associate vice president of university marketing and communications at Averett, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the leadership change.

However, a news release about the newly selected president alluded to the university’s financial struggles.

“Dr. Joyce is the right leader for Averett,” Emma Maddux Kozlowski, vice chair of the school’s board of trustees, said in a statement. “He understands the urgency to put Averett back on strong financial footing and will find innovative ways to maximize operational efficiency.”

The board used Academic Search, a Washington, D.C. higher-education executive search firm, with their search.

Joyce comes to Danville with nearly three decades of experience as a college president. For eight years he led Union College in Kentucky. He spent another 10 years as president of Ripon College in Wisconsin and most recently worked for nine years as president of Brevard College in North Carolina.

Joyce holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Pfeiffer University, a master of divinity in pastoral psychology from the Yale Divinity School, a master’s in psychology from North Carolina State University and a doctorate in human resource development from Vanderbilt University.

He began his career at Elon University as associate dean of student affairs, before joining Pfeiffer as college minister. Joyce is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church.

Joyce will be installed as president on January 6, 2025. A “welcoming event” will be planned for that month for Joyce and his wife Lynne, according to the announcement.

“In our search for the next president of Averett, the Board of Trustees knew that Averett needed a strong leader with a proven record of turning around a college or university that was facing headwinds,” said Dan Carlton, chair of the university’s board.

The  announcement noted several achievements Averett accomplished during Franks’ tenure, including setting enrollment records, joining the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and strengthening ties with the Danville community.

“Nearly 17 years ago, she walked onto this campus and changed Averett,” Carlton said.  “She has been an ambassador of Averett in the community, a champion for our students and a tireless leader of the outstanding faculty and staff assembled at Averett.”

As of September, Averett had nearly 1,450 students enrolled, a 7% increase from the previous academic year, and including 550 students enrolled in Averett Online, its virtual educational offering. In 2022, Caesars Virginia announced a gift of $504,000 to the university to establish a hospitality and tourism academic program, and the school became Danville Regional Airport’s fixed-base operator in July 2021. Averett has offered flight training since 1981.