Jordan Gerard/ Winonan

Five months after employing a new Vice President for University Advancement, Winona State University begins the search for a new one.

An all-university email sent on Thursday, Jan. 22, announced Ernie Hughes, “will no longer serve as vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the WSU Foundation.”

The email added that Hughes will be reassigned to duties focusing on “enrollment strategies that will benefit the university.”

Previous Vice President for University Advancement Gary Evans will return and serve in an interim capacity until a new vice president can be found, which according to the email, the search will “begin immediately.”

Hughes was an “at-will” employee hired by President Scott Olson in June 2014. He served on the President’s Cabinet, Council of Advisors and managed the Winona State University Foundation.

Part of his job description was planning, coordinating, managing and implementing all fundraisers for Winona State and the Winona State University Foundation.

Other duties included working with business and community leaders, supervising communications, alumni services, creative services, government relations, Foundation finance and communicating with the Foundation Board of Trustees.

His term started August 11, 2014 with a salary of $155,000.

Hughes’s resume showed him to be well studied in leadership roles, finance and advancing positions. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Resource Development from Louisiana State University, a Master of Business Administration in marketing and a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and logistics from Mississippi State University.

Before his term at Winona State, Hughes held many positions for the Southern University System in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which is a network of five universities in Louisiana.

From August 2010 to October 2013, he was the Vice President for Advancement and Executive Director of the System Foundation.

During his term there he increased donations by 34 percent, increased unrestricted gifts by 37 percent with the creation of a leadership giving society. He was also responsible for soliciting gifts of $5,000 and higher from alumni and non-alumni friends. Notably, he secured a $2.4 million gift for the university.

Inclusion and Diversity Director Alex Hines was acquainted with Hughes during his time at Winona State.

“He’s genuine, sincere, honest,” Hines said. “We enjoyed each other’s company.”

Hughes and Olson were unavailable for comment.

Olson was attending the MnSCU Board Meeting and deferred to Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Communications Cristeen Custer, who said the statement sent on Jan. 22, “is the only information we will be providing on this topic.”