Kentucky Wesleyan College has announced that Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Stephen Germic will serve as interim president following the departure of Dr. James Cousins.
The college’s Board of Trustees announced Tuesday that Germic will assume the role on July 1 while Cousins and his family prepare to relocate to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The board will launch a national search for the college’s 37th president, with a timeline to be announced later.
Board Chair Keith Sharber said trustees have full confidence in Germic’s ability to lead the institution during the transition.
“Kentucky Wesleyan College is very blessed to have Dr. Stephen Germic as an integral part of our current campus leadership,” Sharber said. “Dr. Germic is a gifted, experienced, and respected leader in the field of higher education. The KWC Board of Trustees has absolute confidence that Dr. Germic will be a firm hand in guiding the institution that we all love.”
Germic joined Kentucky Wesleyan in September 2024 and has overseen several academic initiatives, including a faculty-approved transition to a four-credit-hour academic model that will launch in fall 2027. The redesign is intended to provide students with deeper classroom engagement and expanded hands-on learning opportunities.
He also led the creation of five new Master of Business Administration specializations in artificial intelligence, business analytics, cybersecurity, finance, and healthcare administration. College officials said the additions are based on workforce demand and are designed to prepare graduates for careers in growing industries.
Germic said he is honored to guide the college during the leadership transition.
“It has been a privilege to serve the Kentucky Wesleyan community over the past two years, and I am honored to have been chosen to lead the College through this transition,” Germic said. “Kentucky Wesleyan is an institution with a strong vision and an extraordinary community of people who care deeply about our College.”
He credited Cousins with helping position the college for future success and said he plans to continue building on that momentum alongside faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Before coming to Kentucky Wesleyan, Germic served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Aquinas College in Michigan and previously was provost at Rocky Mountain College in Montana. He has taught at colleges and universities throughout the United States as well as internationally in Cairo, Egypt, and Dubai.
College officials said Germic will work with the cabinet, faculty, and staff to maintain the institution’s academic and operational priorities while the presidential search is underway.
