KSU’s Interim President named finalist for the role

University System of Georgia (USG) Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney joined Board of Regents Chairman Harold Reynolds in announcing that Dr. Kathy “Kat” Schwaig, who currently serves as KSU’s interim president, is the sole finalist for president of Kennesaw State University. The Board of Regents will take action on the position at a future board meeting, no sooner than five days from naming a finalist.

“I can think of no candidate more qualified to become KSU’s next president than the person who leads it now and knows its students, faculty, staff, and community so well,” MacCartney said. “Dr. Schwaig has spent the past 20 years teaching at KSU while building relationships and gaining administrative experience that ultimately led her to become provost and then interim president. She has a clear vision to serve students and promote the university’s academic excellence while strengthening its research and service missions.”

Schwaig, who has served in the interim role for eight months, has focused on student-centered policies and practices aimed at improving retention, progression, and graduation rates which includes creating the Student Success Steering Committee. The group works to coordinate and improve student success initiatives. 

Schwaig has held several faculty and leadership roles at KSU, including interim and associate dean, interim department chair for the Department of Accounting, and interim department chair for the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems in the University’s College of Science and Mathematics. Among other accomplishments, Schwaig created a new campus communication structure, successfully engaged with donors to raise money for scholarships, coordinated strategic and tactical planning for campus and athletic facilities, and expanded the university’s overall strategic framework, the R2 Roadmap, by adding a new focus to build engagement both on-campus and with community and business partners. 

“Dr. Schwaig has been an outstanding leader for KSU not only as interim president but as its provost and longtime faculty leader and professor,” said Regent Neil L. Pruitt Jr., chair of the Regents Special Committee which also helped with the search. “She has a demonstrated track record of putting students, faculty, and staff first, and would be a great fit for a university and campus community she already knows so well.”

Schwaig joined the faculty at KSU in 2002, giving her almost 20 years of teaching and professional experience as an Owl. Schwaig previously served as the Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Entrepreneurial Management and professor of information systems. Additionally, Schwaig was the dean of KSU’s Michael J. Coles College of Business from 2012 to 2019. 

During her tenure as business school dean, the college’s reputation rose including its part-time MBA being ranked among the top 25 in the nation and first in Georgia among public institutions. Schwaig also led the college through two successful reaccreditation reviews by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) and was instrumental in bringing in $13 million in philanthropic gifts.

Prior to joining KSU, Schwaig held faculty positions at Georgia State University, the University of South Carolina, and Baylor University.

A native of central Texas, Schwaig earned a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Information Systems from Baylor University, a Master’s of Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of South Carolina.