The Office of Graduate Admissions is full of smiling faces. One would think upon entering there is something in this office to celebrate. As a matter of fact, there is. Charles Pinder, dean of Graduate Studies and professor, is retiring this year. In his five and a half years at APSU, he has witnessed graduate admissions increase by 50 percent.

“When I first came here we had 400 plus grad students,” Pinder said. “Now I am leaving with 900. One hundred twenty-six of them are graduate assistants.”

“I didn’t do it. We did it. This was really a team effort,” said Pinder. When approached with the idea he had done something specific to increase enrollment by such a large amount, he is quick to give credit to those he feels deserve it.

“We have added new programs every year since I’ve been here. That is unprecedented in this program in Austin Peay’s history,” Pinder said. “We also have some programs that are excellent. Students don’t just come here because it’s the closest by, they come because it’s a good program.”

Pinder also gives credit to APSU’s new provost, Tristan Denley. “Dr. Denley is a strong educator and he has strong visions for improvement.”

Pinder feels he is certainly not personally responsible for the increase in enrollment during his time here at APSU. He is confident the Graduate Studies program speaks for itself as far as quality is concerned, and it reaches out to students in the areas they need the most.

“We have met our students’ needs. We have a number of programs that are on the web. That’s crucial. The students themselves are great recruiters.”

Pinder has been in the field of education for the majority of his life. He attended the University of Maryland and received his doctorate in what is now called technology education.

“I have done a lot of work in [education]. I was at Virginia Tech for 15 years. I did a lot of developing standards for technology education around the country,” Pinder said. From there, he went to Northern Kentucky University, where he was the chair of the Comprehensive Technology department.

“I have enjoyed my whole career,” Pinder said. “Some people call me a higher education junkie. But I just enjoy the challenge.”

Coming to APSU almost six years ago proved to be a challenge indeed. Never before had he been involved with a primarily liberal arts institution.

“I enjoyed that perspective,” Pinder said. “It fits in with my philosophy quite well.”

Now that retirement is upon him, Pinder reflects on his time at APSU and the people he has had a chance to work with.

“We have a hard-working staff here, probably the best staff that I have ever worked with,” Pinder said. “We have increased enrollment by 50 percent, but we have not gained any new staff. We tend to work people overtime to get the work done.”

Pinder is preparing to leave in a rather ironic way.

“We have a new position that I am chairing for, actually,” Pinder said. “I’m chairing for the committee for my own replacement. So that’s pretty exciting.”

After Pinder retires, he still plans to give back to the world of education he has loved for so long.

“I will continue to do certain things to help other universities, part-time of course,” Pinder said. “And my wife will have a ‘honey-do’ list for me, so I will have my time well-spent.”

Pinder is grateful for his time and success here at APSU and will carry his fond memories of the program and his staff away with him.

“I can only see growth and quality going forward here,” Pinder said. “We are at 10,000 [students], and graduate studies is about one- tenth of that. I can foresee the time when graduate admissions will be a higher percentage than the approximately 10 percent that it is now.”

Pinder has faith in this program. “This is a good time to depart, when the unit has taken on some additional challenges to move the university forward.”

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