Western Carolina University Chancellor David O. Belcher has identified four areas of emphasis for the 2015-16 academic year that are central to the institution’s future success: increasing diversity on campus, preparing for a comprehensive fundraising campaign to boost scholarship dollars, enhancing the total student experience, and supporting faculty and staff.
Those four areas will become the focus of a series of roundtable discussions to begin later this fall at which campus leaders will provide additional information and seek input, ideas and possible solutions from the university community.
Those were among the messages delivered Wednesday, Aug. 12, during the annual Opening Assembly to kick off the fall semester.
The issues of diversity, scholarships, overall student experience and employee satisfaction are rising to the forefront for higher education in the face of changing enrollment and demographic trends, the increasing cost of a college education and intense competition for the top students.
“This is the time for strategic thinking to ensure that Western Carolina University doesn’t just survive, but thrives in our emerging environment,” Belcher said. “I don’t have all the answers. Frankly, I’m glad that I don’t. I find that the best solutions and trajectories are those that benefit from give-and-take, debate and brainstorming. We need to all be in this together.”
Belcher tag-teamed with Provost Alison Morrison-Shetlar to discuss the four areas of focus for the year ahead. On the topic of diversity, Morrison-Shetlar reminded those gathered in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center that the university is in the process of seeking its first chief diversity officer, a new position at WCU, as part of an ongoing emphasis on diversity.
“A study carried out by talking to groups of faculty and staff all across campus about the role of a chief diversity officer revealed that we have a multitude of diversity initiatives occurring on the campus, and what we need is a champion for these initiatives and a liaison with our local community,” she said. “It will take all of us to ensure success.”
Diversity does not just refer to race or gender, Morrison-Shetlar said. “We value diversity in thought and opinion, our life experiences, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, socio-economic differences, geographic location and cultural differences, to name just a few for our consideration,” she said.
Moving to the issue of total student experience, Morrison-Shetlar said that students’ experience with WCU begins before they enroll as they review the university’s website and admissions materials, and that it continues after they graduate and enter the job market as alumni.
“We know that each student comes with individual passions but may be unsure of where their passions lie. The fastest growing major of choice for these students coming in the door is undeclared,” she said. “It takes all of us to help students find their academic passion, and that includes our advisers, faculty, staff and the community.”
Many nonacademic programs enhance the student experience, she said, ranging from residential life and student leadership opportunities to athletics, Greek-letter organizations and intramural sports.
Tackling topic No. 3 – increasing scholarships – Belcher told the audience that last year only 9 percent of WCU students attended school with support from privately funded scholarships while the year before students took out nearly $60 million in loans for just a single year of education.
“We take great pride at Western Carolina University in the fact that we are one of the most affordable institutions of higher education in the United States, but that clearly means little to so many of our students, particularly as families continue to struggle to recover from the effects of the Great Recession,” he said. “We must take on this issue of scholarships if we want to continue to be true to our historic commitment of providing access to university for those students who are prepared for the rigors of a higher education experience.”
That is why the university is gearing up for a comprehensive campaign to raise money for endowed scholarships, he said.
The fourth topic of focus is to ensure that the university invests in its people, Belcher said. “We can enhance diversity on our campus, we can build a strong portfolio of endowed scholarships, but if we don’t take care of the people who do what I call ‘the real work’ of the university – its faculty and staff – there is no way Western Carolina can thrive, particularly in the face of challenge,” he said. “A great, satisfied workforce is a requirement to provide a great experience for our students.”
Belcher outlined several positive steps that have occurred recently in support of faculty and staff, including bringing all employees up to a minimum of 75 percent of the salary labor market; creating a salary floor of $25,000; ensuring that all university employees received salary increases last year; building transparency into business operations through the creation of the Chancellor’s Leadership Council and Budget Advisory Council; implementing a Leadership Academy for faculty and staff; and expanding professional development opportunities.
“We’ve made some progress in supporting our people, but what else can and should we do to really move the needle on this front?” Belcher asked. “What work-life issues are faculty and staff most concerned about, and what can Western Carolina do to address them within the context of our tight budgets?”
Sam Miller and Alison Morrison-Shetlar listen to Pam DeGraffenreid, chair of Staff Senate, and David McCord, chair of Facutly Senate, (left to right) introduce Chancellor Belcher.
The answers to those questions and others surrounding the four areas of interest may be found in the upcoming roundtable discussions to be held in the year ahead, he said.
“As we contemplate the next version of our university, it is critical that we hold fast to who we are: a public institution that must focus its energies on the needs of the public we serve – the citizens of North Carolina,” he said. “Universities are not life-support systems for the way we’ve always done things, and I ask you to champion that, when it comes to a choice between comfortable habits and routines and what’s best for WCU and the public we serve, you will choose the latter.”
Despite the challenges posed by the changing landscape for higher education, WCU will not turn its back on its traditions of providing access to higher education to the people of the mountains and of working to help meet the needs of the region, Belcher said.
“No one anticipates that, in pursuit of the newest and latest edition of WCU, we will abandon our core values and principles; no one anticipates that we will be unrecognizable in the new paradigm,” he said. “But we must and will transform ourselves and our work and our university by seeking out the points of intersection between our values and principles, on one hand, and an emergent vision of higher education that harnesses new approaches, new models, new technologies, new systems and new funding models, on the other, and by building a new Western Carolina that is better and more relevant for a new time.”
Discussion of the four points of emphasis for the year ahead followed a presentation by Sam Miller, vice chancellor for student affairs, who provided what Belcher termed the “somewhat sobering scenario” on the horizon for higher education.
Miller told the assembly that a predicted decline in the number of college-going North Carolinians in the year 2021 (the result of a drop in birthrates after Sept. 11, 2001) will be followed by an increase in college-bound residents in regions of the state east of WCU’s service region.
“One of the realities is that we are in a unique geography, and geography is really important when it comes to undergraduate recruitment. We’re way out here in the Smoky Mountains in a beautiful setting in westernmost North Carolina, while most of the population centers are back downstate,” he said. “Most of our students have to drive by many of our sister institutions and private institutions to get here. They have remarkable choices, and there really has to be a compelling reason for them to come all the way out to Cullowhee.”
Providing additional scholarship dollars for those prospective students will become increasingly important to recruiting and retaining students, he said.
OPENING ASSEMBLY VIDEO
Video from the event, including remarks shared by Chancellor David Belcher, Provost Alison Morrison-Shetlar and Vice Chancellor Sam Miller, is available HERE. Faculty/staff password and log-in required. The full remarks as delivered vary slightly from the written remarks shared below.
OPENING ASSEMBLY TRANSCRIPTS
Chancellor David O. Belcher:
Introduction
Happy New Year and welcome to another year of opportunity and possibility at Western Carolina University. I trust you have had a good summer and have found time for rest and renewal.
I do love the start of a new academic year. There’s an atmosphere of renewed energy and passion for this worthy work we do. There’s a rewarding spirit about the campus as we reconnect with colleagues and welcome new faculty and staff to our university community.
It’s a time when we embrace a new class of students who arrive at Western Carolina with all the hopes, dreams, excitement, anxieties, and potential we’ve come to expect. It’s a time to celebrate the accomplishments of last year even as we look toward the potential of the one at hand.
Chancellor Belcher repeatedly expresses appreciation for university faculty and staff who help attract and retain students.
And it’s a time of renewed commitment to our individual roles in creating the learning environments which our students need in order to thrive and to prepare them for their futures. It doesn’t matter what roles we play – whether we facilitate learning in the formal environment of the classroom, lab, or studio; help students complete financial aid paperwork; work with student organizations; do carpentry, electrical, plumbing, or painting work on our physical plant; advise; maintain emergency management capability; cultivate philanthropic investment; coordinate residence hall activities; secure internship opportunities for our students; recruit students; coach; maintain IT infrastructure; produce reports for General Administration; serve on the Staff and Faculty Senates; provide career counseling; or clean campus facilities…it does not matter – we are every one of us in this enterprise together, dedicated first and foremost to the educational needs of our students.
I do love the start of the academic year. As I do each year, let me begin by addressing the budget, or at least what we know about it at this point, and then we’ll move on to explore some significant work we need to begin to tackle this year.
Budget Update
First, the budget. Enrollment growth continues to position us well in that, like the prior year and as we anticipate the case to be this year, we brought in more money through enrollment growth last year than we lost in cuts. These funds allowed us to continue our progress in several strategic areas. Here are the major things we were able to do last year:
Building on our commitment to “Invest in Our People” we took steps to address several critical priorities: salaries, professional development, and diversity of our staff and faculty.
First, salaries. In alignment with Goal 4.1 of the 2020 Strategic Plan, we implemented step 2 of our long-range salary plan, bringing all faculty and staff up to a minimum of 75 percent of the salary labor market rate, creating a $25,000 salary floor, and enacting tiered increases for those in the lowest salary bands to address compression. In addition, we allocated funds to provide EPA employees with the same $1,000 raise which the General Assembly made possible for SPA employees. This initiative is one of which I am proud. Our people are our most important resource and, while last year’s salary increases were admittedly modest, we did make progress. I hope we can make progress again this year.
The Office of Human Resources has leveraged several external programs such as the Franklin Covey Training Program to provide additional professional development opportunities for staff and faculty to acquire skills for career advancement. Professional development is a key to addressing the conundrum of ‘one-deep’ coverage and succession planning, and we will continue to strengthen our offerings to benefit our employees and to make good on our commitment in strategic plan Goal 4.2.
And, in a big step toward moving beyond just talking about diversity, campus leadership authorized the creation of a new chief diversity officer, reporting to the provost. We hope to have that search completed in 2015-16. WCU is ready to take specific steps to address the long talked-about lack of diversity on our campus; a CDO will help guide us on that trajectory. For the record, Goal 4.3.
In connection with our “Invest in our Core Resources” strategic direction and our commitment to campus safety, we hired a chief compliance officer to manage the ever-increasing growth of federal regulations and the escalating national focus on Title IX violations. We are committed to addressing head-on the need to have a safe campus environment in which violence and sexual assault are simply not tolerated.
We increased bandwidth to handle our increased student enrollment demands or, more accurately, to support the increasing numbers of devices that students show up with. I mean, seriously, how many phones, computers, iPads, and gaming devices does one person actually need? The answer to that is apparently 5, just FYI.
We began laying the foundation for a new integrated marketing and communications plan starting with a comprehensive redesign of the WCU website, which we will launch later this fall, and a coordinated media campaign in strategic markets.
We took some first steps in automating key campus processes such as curriculum approval with the implementation of Curriculog.
And, finally, we took care of mandatory and inflationary increases such as meeting our 2014-15 recurring legislative reduction, $1.3 million; fully funding faculty promotion increments, $70,000; fulfilling our commitment to the Cherokee studies program, $25,000; accommodating increasing utility costs, $50,000; addressing Biltmore Park lease increases, $70,000; and meeting our portion of the Banner Hosting shared service contract, $82,000. We did make some real progress last year.
Now let’s talk about what’s in the final state budget for 2015-2016…Who are we kidding? There is no final state budget, and if you’ve been playing along at home regarding the ongoing budget talks in Raleigh, you’ll understand when I say that I hope I can get back to you about the final 2015-16 state budget some time before the holidays.
So unlike last year when I was able to share a fair bit of detail on the budget, this year we have to settle for some sheer speculation about what we expect to see in the 2015-16 budget.
The good news first. The UNC system will likely receive its full enrollment growth request. Therefore, because we achieved our enrollment targets last year, we should receive around $4.8 million in enrollment growth funding. Add in the expected additional $900,000 in tuition, and our new monies should be more than our anticipated cuts. We achieved our enrollment targets last year because we increased our student body – both new and continuing students.
So, let me say now: Thank you – thank you for your individual and collective contributions to recruiting and retaining students. You may have kept the grounds looking incredible. You may have spent extra time with a student struggling to understand a concept. You may have helped students build community on campus. You may have given a student career advice. You may have kept our students safe. You may have kept all 50,000 electronic devices which our students brought with them last year functioning through our IT infrastructure (10,000 x 5 = 50,000). You may have cleaned residence halls. You may have offered a student the opportunity to bridge theory and practice by connecting her with a nonprofit organization or area industry. You may have consoled a student who lost a family member. You may have inspired a student.
Whatever you did to help us with our students, thank you. You are part of the reason we will receive state funding this year.
We have also made great strides in advancing our request for a new Natural Sciences Building with the N.C. General Assembly. Thanks to the work of many individuals on campus, but with particular appreciation to Meredith Whitfield and Richard Starnes, we are as well-positioned as we could possibly be. As I hope you know by now, Governor McCrory has included the new Natural Sciences Building in his infrastructure bond proposal. The House has included $9.2 million in planning money in its budget and has included the rest of the funding for the facility in its version of the bond proposal. We have strong support for this facility in the Senate. If the governor, House, and Senate can agree on a final bond package, it will go to a vote of the people of North Carolina probably sometime in 2016, and we will be unleashing the entire Catamount Nation to get out the vote for this facility, which is critical to WCU’s future growth. This is our top legislative priority.
What we don’t know at this point is how the General Assembly will address salary increases. The governor’s budget and the Senate’s budget include increases for only a subset of state employees while the House budget contained a 2 percent across-the-board increase for SPA employees. As you can see, we are just not certain what will come out of conference for salary increases. We continue, however, to advocate strongly for UNC employees to be treated the same as other state employees for legislative pay increases.
Finally, it is very likely our state appropriation will be reduced again, though by how much, we don’t yet know. We currently expect a cut of between $1 million and $1.5 million over the biennium.
So, where does this leave us? We won’t have our complete budget picture until the General Assembly passes a final budget and after we receive the final allocation of cuts from the Board of Governors, which should come relatively soon after the budget is finalized. Once we have the final word on cuts and we have our final fall 2015 enrollment number in hand, we will be able to calculate tuition and fee revenues and have a clearer budget picture.
But the bottom line is this: while the state budget picture is still in flux, our fiscal position continues to strengthen, particularly because we have enjoyed strong enrollment growth over the past several years. And, because we are likely to receive more money than we will be cut, we should be in a position to allocate funding to a small number of priorities.
I know I must sound like a broken record, whatever a record is, but enrollment growth is critical, for it is the only source of significant new revenues in our current fiscal environment. So let me share with you our budget imperatives going into this year with the understanding that we are electing to take a more conservative approach until we understand better the final state budget as well as our final fall enrollment.
The first imperative is pretty obvious: we have to cover our state appropriation reductions – we have no choice. Once we receive the dollar figure we must cut, we must take that amount of money off the top of our new funding.
The second imperative: we have to meet mandatory and inflationary increases – commitments which WCU must fulfill. These include: faculty promotion increments of approximately $71,000; the final commitment of $25,000 to fully fund the Cherokee studies program; mandatory utility increases of $50,000; Biltmore Park lease expansion and increases of $132,000; and shared services contracts with UNC General Administration.
The third imperative is to address campus budget priorities identified in the spring 2015 budget hearing process. As I share these with you, let me reiterate that these are our priorities, and I hope that we will be able to fund them all, but we will not know for sure until we have final information on our allocated budget reductions and our census date enrollment figure.
First, under the “Invest in our People” strategic direction from our strategic plan, we hope to be able to implement step 3 of the salary plan which would raise the salary floor for all employees to 77.5 percent of the salary labor market rate by position and enact tiered increases for employees in the lower salary bands to help us move toward the ultimate goal of reaching 100 percent of market rate for every position.
Second, under the strategic directions “Fulfill the Educational Needs of our State and Region” and “Enrich the Total Student Experience,” we hope to create new faculty positions in high-demand disciplines. We simply cannot continue to grow without investing in new faculty positions.
The budget picture is daunting and uncertain – there’s no question about it. But WCU continues year by year to strengthen its financial position because of enrollment growth, and again I thank you for what you are doing to put us in a position envied by many other institutions in our state.
Last Year in Review
On the eve of a new academic year, I think it is important for us to take a look back at the year just completed – 2014-2015 was a huge year in the life of our university.
Last year, WCU achieved a third consecutive year of record enrollment, topping out at 10,382.
For the 10th consecutive year, Western Carolina University placed in the top 10 nationally in the number of undergraduate research projects accepted for presentation at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
Last year, Western Carolina faculty and staff increased the number of grant proposals submitted by 19 percent, from 74 to 88, and increased the award dollars received by 3%, from $5.5 million to $5.7 million.
Western Carolina welcomed new leadership to campus or returning faces to new leadership roles this past year, including: George Brown, dean, College of Fine and Performing Arts; Mike Byers, vice chancellor for administration and finance; Wes Chancey, chief compliance officer; Cory Causby, associate vice chancellor for human resources and payroll; Jill Granger, dean, Honors College; Brian Kloeppel, interim dean, Graduate School and Research; Aldon Knight, assistant vice chancellor for development; Stephanie McCormick, head women’s basketball coach; Stacy McGregor, director of special events; Julie Moran, director of facilities design and construction; Cindy Nicholson, director of purchasing and accounts payable; Theresa Paul, director of career services; Farzaneh Razzaghi, dean of library services; Arthur Salido, director of SACS-COC reaffirmation; Shane Stovall, director of emergency services; and Khambrel Ward, director of intercultural affairs.
Last year was the year Western Carolina received official notice of the 10-year reaffirmation of our designation as a community-engaged university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Last year was the year when an economic impact survey of all higher education institutions in the state of North Carolina revealed that WCU’s economic impact on North Carolina totals more than $900 million annually, with more than a half billion of those dollars staying right here in Western North Carolina.
Last year was the year when, under the leadership of Alison Morrison-Shetlar, Tony Johnson, Steve Morse, Ed Wright, and others, Western Carolina launched a series of LEAD: Western North Carolina conferences designed to bring leaders together from across our region and across sectors to explore collaborative efforts in pursuit of economic and community development.
Last year was the year Western Carolina, with leadership from the College of Business and the unit formerly known as the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, established a new for-profit LLC designed to provide entrepreneurial business, scientific, and technical services to help spur economic development activity in Western North Carolina, to provide broader access to financing necessary for product development, business expansion, and technology transfer; and to enhance the potential to generate revenue for internships and other forms of student financial aid.
Last year was the year Western Carolina, under the direction of Carol Burton and Doug Keskula, with the former, and Robin Oliver and Bill Studenc, with the latter, completed two significant planning documents: the Biltmore Park strategic plan, which will guide our efforts to address professional and graduate program needs in the greater Asheville-Hendersonville area while maximizing Biltmore Park’s enrollment growth potential; and the integrated marketing and communications plan, which will guide the institution’s interface with its various constituencies, with a particular focus on engaging students and prospective students through emerging media.
Last year was a year of significant movement in regard to WCU’s physical plant as we initiated a mixed-use facility in partnership with a private developer to accommodate additional student housing and retail options; as we developed plans for the renovation of and addition to the old Brown Cafeteria to accommodate additional dining and student programming needs; and as we entered into an agreement with a private developer to construct a medical office building next to the Health and Human Sciences Building on the west campus in support of our commitment to address regional health care needs. (Don’t get attached to the pretty picture – this is just a concept drawing, not a design.)
Last year was a good year in fundraising in which we increased gift receipts by 25 percent year over year, taking in a total of $3.97 million; secured 51 new endowed scholarships; exceeded our alumni participation goal of 6 percent, topping out at 6.2 percent; and received cash and future commitments totaling in excess of $14.5 million toward our comprehensive fundraising campaign.
Last year was the year we launched our Board of Visitors, designed to extend the reach of our university through friend-raising, fundraising, and legislative advocacy.
Last year was the year US News and World Report ranked WCU in its list of the top 100 with regard to online undergraduate programs; Military Advanced Education included WCU as a top school in its 2015 Guide to Colleges and Universities, which ranks higher ed institutions regarding best practices in military and veteran education; and Kiplinger’s recognized WCU as a Best Value College, ranking WCU 67th on its list of the 100 best values among public colleges and universities and 19th on its top 24 list of best value colleges under $30,000 per year. Princeton Review ranked WCU again as one of the best institutions at which to earn an MBA and one of the most environmentally friendly institutions of higher education in North America. And, for the 7th consecutive year, WCU was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
Last year was the year WCU wrapped up its yearlong 125th-anniversary celebration and, as part of the celebration, hosted the Board of Governors for their September meeting, wowing them in ways that will pay dividends for WCU for years to come.
Last year was the year WCU was named, for the second year in a row, best outdoor adventure college in the Southeast/Mid-Atlantic in a poll conducted by Blue Ridge Outdoor Magazine.
Last year was the year the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band introduced Western Carolina to the world when they led the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Last year was the year the men’s indoor and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams won SoCon championships, and when cross country/track and field coach Danny Williamson was named SoCon Coach of the Year for the 29th time.
Last year was the year when men’s golfer J.T. Poston won the SoCon championship for the second year in a row, won individual honors at the NCAA regional competition in Chapel Hill, and, as far as we know, was the first Catamount student-athlete ever to compete in an NCAA finals.
Last year was the year of an amazing turn-around season for Catamount Football. I just have to savor this one more time.
And last year was another year when the people who do the real work of this university, its faculty and staff, rolled up their sleeves and demonstrated their absolute commitment to the success of our students, one student at a time. It was indeed the Year of the Cats!
The Year Ahead
So, that was last year – where to now? At this time of year, it is very natural for us as individuals, as departments, units, divisions, colleges, and offices to concentrate on the year ahead, tackling our various assignments, figuring out how we will raise the bar so that we are better a year from now than we are today. That’s all quite natural and totally appropriate.
But let me ask you, as we begin this new academic year, also to look with us through a longer-range lens at some of the emerging realities which are going to frame our work in the coming years and which have the potential to have a significant impact on Western Carolina University.
One of the graphics shown by Sam Miller depicts the location of the university compared with the state’s major population centers.
In June, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Sam Miller provided our Board of Trustees and Foundation Board with a glimpse of some of these new realities, and I have asked him to share that presentation with you as a prelude to the conversations in which we must engage to ensure strategic progress in uncertain times. Sam?
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Sam Miller’s presentation (PDF – 18.5 MB)
Chancellor David Belcher:
Thanks, Sam. Somewhat sobering scenario, isn’t it? At a moment like this, we have essentially two choices. We can perform the definition of insanity: you know – keep doing things the way we’ve always done them and expect different results. Or, we can think and act strategically, making conscious choices and decisions, which will better position us for the inevitable challenges ahead. I choose the latter.
While there are many efforts Western Carolina will need to undertake in our pursuit of setting up our university for success in a challenging time, four topics, I think, are of particular significance.
Alison and I will briefly discuss these emerging agenda items, ending each brief topic overview with some questions worthy of exploration. Allison.
Alison Morrison-Shetlar describes two emerging agenda items for WCU in the near future.
Provost Alison Morrison-Shetlar:
Diversity
To follow up on the presentation by Sam, there are two sections of the 2020 Vision that address diversity – Strategic Direction No. 1 and Strategic Direction No. 4.
Strategic Direction No. 1 indicates that we need to: Increase the diversity of the student body and ensure campus resources necessary to support a diverse student body in order to serve the needs of the changing demographics of the region and state, and to enhance the educational experience of all students. Strategic Direction No. 4 supports: Increasing the diversity among faculty and staff.
At WCU, we value diversity in thought and opinion, our life experiences, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, socio-economic background, geographic location, and cultural differences, to name just a few for our consideration.
As a result of campus-wide discussions on diversity over the last year, a position for chief diversity officer, a first for WCU, was established. A study carried out by talking to groups of faculty and staff all across campus about the role of a chief diversity officer revealed that we have a multitude of diversity initiatives occurring on the campus, and what we needed is a champion and liaison for these initiatives. This person cannot do this alone. We must all be engaged.
The diversity values that we have at WCU continue to support learning to listen, discussion, respectful disagreement, and the desire to move forward to a common vision of success for all. These values are incorporated into our classes, extra- and co-curricular activities, residential life, student recreation and wellness activities, and in our campus community. We must provide the opportunities to take the issues of our time and discuss them in and out of the classroom.
International students is one potential area of growth for us, and we must ensure that we are a welcoming and respectful community for all.
Ling LeBeau, director of international programs and services, has initiated faculty and staff group discussions, putting processes in place to ensure the success of our faculty, staff and students in these educational opportunities. What should we be doing to ensure success for all involved?
For the next two years, the campus interdisciplinary theme “Africa! More than a Continent” provides us an opportunity to use Africa’s past, present and future to explore broad questions in culture, the arts, health care, business, politics and policy, history, literature, education, the environment, science and technology, athletics, and society in Africa and in the U.S. This is a huge opportunity for community-based academic service learning, internships and practicums and discussions about diversity writ large.
Some questions to ponder around diversity at WCU:
What does diversity look like at WCU in the next decade? How will we know we have succeeded in diversifying our university? How will we demonstrate, in our daily personal and professional lives, the value of diversity at WCU and in our region? How will we support the chief diversity officer to help WCU be successful? How do we understand our own culture in relation to other countries and their cultures? How do we prepare for the demographic shift that will occur in 2021, as Sam has shown us in the data?
Total Student Experience
The second area of focus is “Enriching the Total Student Experience,” Strategic Direction No. 2.
Every WCU student’s experience reinforces high standards and expectations, incorporates meaningful external engagement, and instills pride in the university.
WCU has a growing reputation and is rapidly becoming a “destination of choice” for students. The reputation of the institution and fit for the student is key for their and our success. Fit can mean so many things to this generation of students, from the location, housing, air conditioning – who needs it in the mountains? – academic programs, faculty and staff expertise, safety on campus and much, much more.
The first point of contact is often the website and admissions materials. These resources engage the students and are the portal to the university, whether they are seeking face-to-face education or online distance education. Daily, we get 20,000 to 30,000 users viewing 100,000 to 150,000 pages on our website. Thanks to the media specialists, the web designers and the content experts, we can attract a diverse group of students at the beginning of their college experience.
So, let’s think of the total student experience once they have decided to come to visit WCU. Students come to campus and the first things they see is the beauty of the campus due to the hard work of our groundskeepers; the cleanliness and maintenance of the buildings because of our facility management staff; and the safety of the campus thanks to our community oriented police and safety officers.
They see facilities that promote learning, leadership, community and a feeling of being at home, whether in housing, the University Center, academic buildings, intramural sports, athletics, spirit, and the great outdoors, all with cutting-edge and accessible technology – remember those five devices they are bringing with them!
Students meet the faculty and staff – that one conversation that can turn a desire to go to App State into an “App who? I’m coming to WCU because of Professor X and Program Y.”
We have excellent, focused and distinctive programs in the arts, engineering and technology, health, humanities, and social and natural sciences. We have the Division of Finance and Administration that ensures that our dollars are well spent to meet the needs of the campus as it grows and develops.
We have a challenging and up-to-date curriculum taught by passionate and current faculty who epitomize the teacher/scholars/mentor model, facilitating the learning of students in and out of the classroom to ensure student success to graduation and beyond.
We have incredible faculty expertise and accessibility that draws a student to do undergraduate research, service learning, practica and internships – any one of the 10 high impact practices that we know make a difference in retention and success to, and beyond, graduation.
We have incredible staff that support the health and well-being of the student, the learning support areas, the extra- and co-curricular components that are a critical part of the student experience on an engaged campus.
We offer study away/work away/serve away programs and international opportunities, helping our students attain the experiences that will support their growth and development as educated citizens.
We know that each student comes with individual passions, but may be unsure of where their passions lie. The fastest growing major of choice for these students coming in the door is undeclared. It takes all of us to help students find their academic passion, and that includes our advisers, faculty, staff and the community.
We know that our students may have a non-academic passion that attracts them to WCU. We have excellence in so many areas, including residential life; two very high retention areas of distinction in learning in our Honors College and living-learning communities. We have the marching band; athletics; Greek life; intramurals; community engagement such as alternative breaks, days of service, and awareness/advocacy programs; and curricular engagement and course-based community engagement.
It is essential that we provide support for students (and our alumni) from the start to help them prepare for graduate school and careers. We are focusing on some new and existing initiatives to support our students from entry to WCU up to – and beyond – graduation.
We are expanding leadership opportunities in residential life, student organizations, marching band, the Honors College, athletics and in the community.
We are creating a Center for Student Career and Professional Development, and we are creating an office of scholarships and awards that will identify students early in their career and support them in seeking scholarships and awards such as Fulbright, Goldwater and Rhoades, to name just a few.
All of this leads to students who graduate in four years, reach their full potential with all the behaviors, skills and attributes that will serve them well into their future, and of course they will become engaged alumni.
So here are some of the questions that come to mind:
Are we doing what we need to, to tell our stories of excellence? Are we sharing our alumni successes and our successes in leadership, undergraduate research, academic service learning, community engagement and impact?
Does everyone believe that they are valued for their contribution to the growth of WCU and the success of our students, staff, faculty and alumni?
How might we integrate technology more thoroughly into the teaching and learning environment to harness our students’ desire to use the digital environment?
Does each WCU student enjoy a “total student experience,” or do some students have narrower collegiate experiences than others?
Are there areas, such as personal health and wellness, where WCU can expand its programming for the benefit of our students and their growth?
Are there best practices in academic departments or student life which need to be scaled for more or all of our students?
And now to the third area of focus, by Chancellor Belcher.
Chancellor David Belcher:
Scholarship Support
A third area for focused attention is scholarship support for WCU students. As Sam shared with you, we are at a significant competitive disadvantage with our primary competitors in the arena of scholarship support for our students. But there’s additional information to share.
Last year, only 9 percent of WCU students attended school with support from private scholarships. Yet, in 2013-2014, the last year for which I have data, WCU students took out $59.9 million in student loans – $59.9 million in loans for a single year of school!
In 2014-15, 42 percent of our students were eligible for Pell Grants, and for those of you are not familiar with the criteria for Pell Grants, Pell eligibility is a significant indicator of financial need.
Last year, the 497 students who attended WCU from the eight westernmost counties of the state – that’s Haywood, Jackson, and Transylvania counties west to Cherokee County – those 497 students had a little more than $2 million in unmet need in order to be able to attend WCU without taking on debt – $2 million for 497 students. For the record, there were 9,885 other students at WCU last year, as well.
We take great pride at Western Carolina University in the fact that we are one of the most affordable institutions of higher education in the United States. But that clearly means little to so many of our students particularly as families continue to struggle to recover from the effects of the Great Recession. We must take on this issue of scholarships if we want to continue to be true to our historic commitment of providing access to university for those students who are prepared for the rigors of a Catamount higher education experience, something we pledged to do in Strategic Plan Initiative 1.6.4.
That’s why I announced in my installation address three-and-a-half years ago that pursuit of a greatly enhanced portfolio of endowed scholarships would be the philanthropic priority of my chancellorship. And, indeed, I am delighted that donors have stepped up to establish 123 new endowed scholarships since my installation. But 123, as wonderful as that number is, that’s just a drop in the bucket.
It’s probably the worst-kept secret at the university that we are in the so-called “quiet” or “leadership” phase of a comprehensive fundraising campaign. We haven’t established the ultimate goals of the campaign, but we are having significant conversations with folk who have an affinity for our university and, frankly, the capacity to help us realize our potential.
While the campaign will attract donations for many priorities, the primary emerging focus is significantly building WCU’s number of endowed scholarships. Some will be merit-based scholarships, some will be need-based, and some will be both – need-based scholarships for students who excel.
So, here are some questions to pique your interest: How does an endowment work? How much does it take to establish a new endowed scholarship? What roles can faculty and staff play in WCU’s campaign, and is there an official campus-based component of the campaign? The staff have been working hard to build a Staff Senate Scholarship Endowment. Is there a way to harness the energy of the campaign to increase that endowment? (Hint: if every WCU employee gave $5 a month through payroll deduction for six years to the Staff Senate Scholarship Endowment, it would increase the endowment by over half a million dollars and generate annually around $25,000 for Staff Senate Scholarship awards – every single year, forever.)
More questions: How can an academic program utilize its website or newsletter or advisory council to help the campaign? What resources are there to assist a department to reach out to its alumni base to encourage alumni to give to a scholarship in honor or memory of one of its departmental legends? How is progress toward campaign goals charted and where can I find that information? These are questions worth exploring.
Investing in our People
The final topic for particular focus this year as we begin to position ourselves to thrive within an uncertain context over the next five to 10 years is wrapped up in our strategic plan’s fourth strategic direction: “Invest in our People.”
You know, we can enhance diversity on our campus, we can build a strong portfolio of endowed scholarships, but if we don’t take care of the people who do what I call the real work of the university – its faculty and staff – there is no way Western Carolina can thrive, particularly in the face of challenge. A great, satisfied workforce is a requirement to provide a great experience for our students.
We have taken some positive steps to support our people. We have worked to build transparency into the way we do business, creating the Chancellor’s Leadership Council and the Budget Advisory Council for regular input into decision-making on our campus. We have taken some modest steps in addressing some of the worst salary situations on campus, and as I noted earlier, we hope to move the salary floor to 77.5 percent of market this year.
We have expanded professional development offerings for faculty and staff. We have implemented a Leadership Academy to support faculty and staff who have leadership, though not necessarily administrative, ambitions. We have expanded wellness program offerings for university personnel. We’re beginning to make headway in moving onerous paper-based processes to electronic format, which will expedite our business processes.
We’ve made some progress in supporting our people, but what else can and should we do to really move the needle on this front? What work-life issues are faculty and staff most concerned about, and what can Western Carolina do to address them within the context of our tight budgets? How can we create a culture of innovation which encourages cost savings and streamlined business processes? What’s missing from WCU’s portfolio of professional development options which would help its faculty and staff in their career pursuits? What do you need?
How can we continue to make progress on improving staff and faculty salaries in the environment of no, or only small incremental, legislative increases? The salary adjustment five-step plan has been very successful, but that plan has largely been focused on creating salary floors and closing the gap to market rate. What is our strategy to ensure that we can offer competitive salaries to attract and retain top talent? How can we effect progress on our commitment to invest in our people?
Conclusion
Higher education and its context are experiencing a period of great change. From my vantage point, we essentially have two paths in front of us: we can either harness that change and invent the next version of Western Carolina University in response to that change, or change will be done to us.
From my point of view, there really is no choice. We must own our own reinvention in response to our brave new world. This is, therefore, the time for strategic thinking to ensure that Western Carolina University doesn’t just survive, but thrives in our emerging environment. Nothing will be more important to the long-term health of the university, and it is the long-term health of our university which is our responsibility and charge.
I don’t have all of the answers, and frankly I’m glad that I don’t. I find that the best solutions and trajectories are those that benefit from give-and-take, debate, and brainstorming. We need to all be in this together.
So, back to the questions that Alison and I raised as we briefly explored the four critical topics that are central to WCU’s future success. Those were intended as teasers for conversations in which we hope you will participate this fall.
We plan, beginning in September, to host a series of roundtable discussions on campus to provide additional information and data on each of the four topics but, more importantly, to invite input, ideas, innovations, and solutions. While we certainly don’t have all of the answers, the solutions might just reside in this room or could easily evolve from discussions among thoughtful individuals. We need your involvement in pursuit of workable solutions. And what I hope we will do collectively through this process is to strengthen our culture of creativity and innovation, welcoming outside-the-box thinking and approaches which can help us navigate the change before us.
As we contemplate the next version of our university, it is critical that we hold fast to who we are: a public institution that must focus its energies on the needs of the public we serve – the citizens of North Carolina.
Universities are not life-support systems for the way we’ve always done things, and I ask you to champion that, when it comes to a choice between comfortable habits and routines and what’s best for WCU and the public we serve, you will choose the latter.
No one anticipates that, in pursuit of the newest and latest edition of WCU, we will abandon our core values and principles; no one anticipates that we will be unrecognizable in the new paradigm. But we must and will transform ourselves and our work and our university by seeking out the points of intersection between our values and principles, on one hand, and an emergent vision of higher education that harnesses new approaches, new models, new technologies, new systems, and new funding models, on the other, and by building a new Western Carolina that is better and more relevant for a new time.
And those institutions that dare to create and innovate will, in fact, be the ones who don’t just survive, but who thrive. Within our current environment, the failure to thrive is the ultimate risk we face – not for ourselves, but for our students and our state.
These are big questions, and I find the prospect of seeking solutions in collaboration with you thoughtful, creative, passionate, ambitious, and committed group of people who love our Western Carolina University, I find that a heady task!
So, Catamounts, carpe diem! Welcome home.
Staff members and faculty mingle while enjoying breakfast treats prior to the Opening Assembly.