David C. Hardesty Jr. marks his tenth year as WVU’s president.
By Amy Quigley
With those words, David C. Hardesty Jr. expressed his vision of West Virginia University, as he was formally installed as its 21st president.
By that time, he had been on the job at his alma mater for more than two months, and he had already begun to shape some of the initiatives that define his presidency.
During his first week in office, for example, he announced a five-point plan to enhance the WVU student experience. In August, the first-ever FallFest and the first New Student Convocation since 1967 took place. The Mountaineer Parents Club, led by WVU first lady Susan Hardesty, was brand new. That winter, the first Festival of Ideas lecture series would take place, inspired by an event Hardesty organized when he was WVU student body president.
Other priorities early in his presidency were creating a sound administrative structure for the University and finding ways to reallocate $38 million to fund faculty and staff salary increases mandated by Senate Bill 547, passed by the West Virginia Legislature earlier that year.
Hardesty was assuming leadership of a university that enrolled 28,937 students statewide. It secured just over $64 million in annual sponsored research funding. The WVU Foundation held $161.4 million in assets. The WVU Extension Service reached about 122,000 clients each year. About 91,000 inpatients were treated in WVU hospitals, and WVU health care providers were treating about 353,000 outpatients.
Today, a decade after his inauguration as president, Hardesty is gratified by the West Virginia University that has emerged from these challenges. Statewide enrollment is nearly 34,000. Researchers secured $150 million in external funding in the past fiscal year. The WVU Extension Service is reaching almost 257,000 people. WVU hospitals treat more than 115,000 inpatients annually, and WVU health care providers treat more than half a million outpatients. WVU Foundation assets exceed $717 million. The Mountaineer Parents Club connects more than 13,000 families.
“I’m very pleased that the University proved so adaptable to the extraordinary changes facing it during a vital time in American higher education,” he said. “We have weathered mandated budget reallocations, declining high school enrollments, and the challenges of a global economy. Ten years ago, someone observing the situation facing WVU might have predicted a stable or shrinking University. Instead, in the past decade, the University grew across a number of dimensions.”
He is quick to point out that this growth resulted from a team effort.
“It represents a lot of hard work, especially by the volunteer members of our Board of Governors and the boards of our affiliates, as well as by our vice presidents, deans and directors, and faculty, staff, and students,” Hardesty said. “They have all worked together as a cohesive team, and their loyalty to the University has helped to propel WVU forward.”
Hardesty is eager to build on the University’s success over the past ten years. His overriding goal is to make sure WVU achieves an even greater level of excellence by 2010.
The Student Experience
From the start, enhancing the student living and learning experience was Hardesty’s top priority.
Changes were needed to accommodate the generation that would begin entering colleges and universities in 2000. The “Millennials,” as they were dubbed by authors Neil Howe and William Strauss, are more optimistic and team-oriented than their Generation X predecessors, more apt to seek leadership roles, and more likely to say they felt close to their parents. They are technologically savvy and eager to achieve. The product of more structured childhoods than previous generations, they crave a certain amount of structure in their social and academic lives.
As the parent of two teenagers, Hardesty had the foresight to recognize that the University must change to meet the needs of its future students.
The initiatives he announced his first week in office included the establishment of a Student Affairs Task Force to redesign the student programming and administration, and the formation of the Mountaineer Parents Club under the leadership of his wife Susan and the WVU Alumni Association.
Faculty and staff and state leaders responded favorably to his focus on students.
“After serving on the Board of Trustees and as a former student body president, student life is an area he has a real sense about,” said Lei Lane Bammel, then coordinator of Service Learning Programs, on the day of the announcement.
Students also appreciated the passion that Hardesty brought to transforming student life. Locke Wysong, now serving in the House of Delegates from West Virginia’s 58th district, was a student leader when Hardesty arrived on campus.
“I remember sitting on the lawn in front of Woodburn Hall watching as David Hardesty became president of West Virginia University and feeling the excitement and enthusiasm he had about the future of this great institution,” Wysong said. In the years ahead, he would come to appreciate Hardesty’s willingness to meet and discuss issues affecting students and to engage in one-on-one conversations about Wysong’s future goals.
Hardesty appointed WVU alumnus Ken Gray vice president for student affairs. Gray had previously served a highly distinguished career in the U.S. Army, which culminated with his promotion to major general and his service as the assistant judge advocate general.
Effective leadership is a subject of great interest to Hardesty. Gray typifies Hardesty’s skill at choosing the right leader for the right position.
“In my opinion the greatest legacy that President Hardesty has been building over the past decade is his ability to recruit some of the most creative and energetic university leaders in the country to join him and his wife Susan in creating their vision of a truly student-centered university,” said Rachel Welsh de Iga, who served as student body president early in Hardesty’s presidency.
Together, Hardesty and Gray provided leadership for the next major student life initiative—reengineering the freshman experience.
In 1996, Hardesty announced what would come to be called Operation Jump-Start. The plan called for faculty members to live on-site at campus housing facilities and serve as mentors and sounding boards for students. It also involved building a sense of community in residence halls by grouping students according to their interests and offering more academic and administrative services within the residence halls. The ultimate goal was to increase the freshman retention rate.
Some on campus were skeptical that faculty would want to assume this role, or that students would welcome their presence. An enthusiastic group of Resident Faculty Leaders was assembled, however, and students quickly came to appreciate their support and their promotion of culturally enriching recreational events in the residence halls.
Nick Goodman was a freshman at Boreman Hall in 2002 and had high praise for his RFLs, David and Shawna Stewart.
“I think I could go to (Dr. Stewart) with just about anything. Both he and Shawna are very nice and approachable,” Goodman said then.
Other student life programs debuted and found instant popularity. WVUp All Night, a free weekend recreational program, attracted thousands of students each night. It also attracted the attention of ABC’s Good Morning America and earned WVU placement in The Templeton Guide among the leading institutions addressing character development.
More recently, Adventure West Virginia, an innovative wilderness orientation program that other institutions are using as a model, has become extremely popular with new students.
An award-winning Student Recreation Center opened in 2001 and logged 18,000 visits in its first week of operation alone.
The student living and learning initiatives have produced dramatic results. Freshman-to-sophomore retention reached an all-time high of 81 percent in 2004. The graduation rate has increased. And far more students are choosing WVU than ever before—this fall, enrollment on the Morgantown campus will exceed 26,000, setting a new record for the fourth consecutive year. Freshman enrollment is also at record levels.
“I have witnessed change occur at our University because President Hardesty values the opinions of students, which truly makes WVU a student-centered University,” said biology junior Lisa Costello, who is president of the Student Health Advisory Board. “The programs he has established such as WVUp All Night and FallFest have made my college experience fun, while the creation of the Mountaineer Parents Club has allowed my parents to stay involved in my college education.”
Academic Excellence
Some faculty members were concerned when Hardesty became president because he had a nontraditional background for a university president. His direct experience in academia was limited to his own top-flight education—his undergraduate education at WVU, his study at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his graduation from Harvard Law School.
His professional career had been spent as a lawyer and in West Virginia’s governor’s cabinet as state tax commissioner. His civic involvement had included serving as a member and as president of the University System Board of Trustees.
“When President Hardesty took office, many faculty wondered whether someone who did not have a professorial background would understand fully the opportunities and challenges facing WVU,” recalled Laura Brady, professor of English, director of the University’s writing programs, and WVU’s most recent winner of the Professor of the Year Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
“Over the past ten years, President Hardesty has demonstrated not only his understanding but also his strong commitment to education, research, and outreach to the community and the state,” she added. “Despite recent and recurring budget cuts, WVU has increased the academic profile of the student body (while also increasing enrollments overall), has expanded the library, has increased WVU’s research profile and funding, and has launched new programs such as GIS and forensic identification.”
In keeping with his talent for picking strong leaders, Hardesty chose Gerald Lang to serve as provost and vice president for academic affairs. A former College of Arts and Sciences dean and a member of the WVU faculty since 1976, Provost Lang brought a deep knowledge of the University’s academic mission.
“As provost, I found great compatibility with President Hardesty’s emphasis on academic excellence,” Dr. Lang said. “Throughout his tenure, he has never wavered in his commitment to provide our students with the faculty-student interaction, both in and outside of the classroom, which is so critical to obtaining a high-quality degree. He has always been concerned about the career success of our students after they leave WVU. His commitment to the renewal of the campus, the introduction of state-of-the-art information technology, and most importantly the recognition of the importance of faculty undergirds his unwavering focus on academic excellence.”
Lang provided leadership on one of Hardesty’s most important initiatives, aimed at increasing expectations and performance of undergraduate students.
The commission’s recommendations included requiring all first-year students to take an orientation course focusing on time management and study skills, and making completion of a capstone learning experience—which demonstrates students’ ability to gather and integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines—a graduation requirement.
An emphasis on inquiry-based learning and assessment of learning outcomes also permeated a thorough Faculty Senate review of the University’s general education curriculum, the core requirements that all undergraduates fulfill. This fall, the new general education curriculum—which strives to produce globally aware graduates who can integrate knowledge and interact effectively with others—takes effect.
In recent years, the University has also taken significant steps to help students build the fundamental skills they will need to succeed in any career. The Center for Writing Excellence was established to improve students’ writing and the teaching of writing at WVU, and the Institute for Math Learning was created to provide innovation and leadership for math education at the University and around the state and nation.
WVU has worked hard to offer degrees that meet the needs of the 21st century workforce. WVU statewide offers 37 more degree programs than it did in 1994, including cutting-edge programs in fields that didn’t even exist at that time.
The most well known of these is WVU’s first-of-its-kind program in Forensic and Investigative Science. Born of an agreement with the FBI to meet the demand for fingerprint identification professionals, it has attracted enormous student interest and attention from Rolling Stone, Newsweek, E! Entertainment Television, and many other national media outlets. WVU’s leadership in the field of forensic science has enabled it to attract top-flight researchers and attain a high level of prestige among professionals in the field.
Other new degree options include bachelor’s programs in biometrics and biochemistry, an online master’s program in integrated marketing communications, and a doctorate in applied exercise science.
The past ten years have seen an explosion in the University’s distance learning offerings. In 1994, distance learning consisted mainly of courses beamed by satellite to several locations in West Virginia. By 2004, the University offered more than 100 courses through the Web or WVU’s interactive network.
The latest technology, and a major commitment of funds, has also enhanced the WVU Libraries.
“The transformation has been dramatic,” said John Cuthbert, University librarian and curator of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. “A decade ago many students avoided the antiquated main library, preferring to study instead in the Mountainlair or any other place they could find. Now they come in droves, to an attractive, high-tech library complex with growing print and electronic resources that is light years ahead of where the WVU Libraries were when the Hardesty administration began.”
The overall quality of WVU’s academic programming was endorsed by the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities when it reaccredited WVU for a full 10-year cycle and noted that all issues raised in the 1994 accreditation report had been addressed.
Academic excellence and the student experience have remained Hardesty’s primary focus throughout his presidency. He always knew, however, that many other aspects of the University would require attention as WVU advanced to meet the needs of 21st century students and citizens.
An enhanced research stature, an effective administrative structure, cutting-edge technology, and increased private giving were just a few of the goals he set for WVU in his first ten years in office—goals that would lay the foundation for even greater excellence in the years ahead.
To be continued in the spring issue.
On August 19, they could be seen throughout campus—hauling plastic crates and computer equipment, pushing suitcase-laded dollies, giving their son or daughter a last goodbye hug.
They are the parents of WVU’s newest 4,600 students, and though they may not be seen much on campus throughout the rest of the semester—except on Fall Family Weekend—the Mountaineer Parents Club will provide them and other WVU parents with a strong link to their children’s college experience.
“When we came to WVU ten years ago, we realized that there wasn’t a mechanism for the families of our students to connect with their children’s college experiences,” said Susan Hardesty, who has served as the full-time volunteer chair of the Mountaineer Parents Club since its beginnings under the umbrella of the WVU Alumni Association.
The Mountaineer Parents Club, which has always been free to join, got off to a quick start. Recruitment of members started at New Student Orientation in 1995, with about 800 families joining initially.
WVU alumni Jack and Nancy Cipoletti were two of the original Mountaineer Parents Club members. Their sons, Jay and Chad, had already graduated from WVU, but Jack and Nancy had gone to school with David and Susan Hardesty and were happy to help start the Kanawha County club, then one of only nine nationwide.
It started with a small group of people whose main focus was spreading the word about the club to other parents. As chairs of the Kanawha Valley club, Jack and Nancy fielded many questions from parents of students and prospective students.
Parents often called about a specific problem their child was having, such as getting into a class that they needed to take in order to graduate. Jack Cipoletti said he found that WVU staff were extremely responsive to any parent concerns he passed along.
“They dropped whatever they were doing to help parents,” he said. “It gave the University great credibility with parents.”
Cipoletti credits that responsiveness, along with the hard work and vision of Susan Hardesty, for the exponential growth of the Mountaineer Parents Club, which now involves more than 14,000 families in 65 clubs nationwide and under the leadership of 18 state chairs in areas without clubs. This year, the club added international chairs in Germany and Canada.
Through the years, the services that the Mountaineer Parents Club provides to students and families have proliferated:
1. An existing newsletter for parents was renamed the Mountaineer Parents Newsletter and revamped to provide critical information to all WVU parents three times a year.
2. Parent Electronic News was launched in 2000 to send brief, timely messages to about 11,000 parents who have provided e-mail addresses.
3. A full-time parent advocate, Susan Jennings Lantz, answers the Mountaineer Parents Club Helpline (1-800-WVU-0096) and assists parents who have questions or concerns. Callers usually receive responses to their concerns within one business day. Since the Helpline debuted in 1996, it has logged 30,000 calls.
4. The Parents Club partners with MainStreet Morgantown to offer members significant discounts at downtown businesses. This year, 40 businesses are participating.
5. Individual clubs distribute care packages to students.
6. Parents’ donations created a leisure reading collection in the WVU Libraries that now contains more than 2,000 books.
7. Since 1996, the club has teamed with WVU’s Department of Safety and Transportation to offer parents a parking pass they can use when moving their children in and out of Morgantown.
8. The club provides bus services to the Pittsburgh airport and to locations in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York on major holiday breaks.
9. The club awards $1,000 scholarships to West Virginia high school student body presidents, through the Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund of the WVU Alumni Association. The number of recipients has grown from five in 2000 to 30 this year.
10. Annual Fall Family Weekend festivities include a Parents Club meeting, a family tailgate, attendance at the WVU football game, a post-game dinner buffet, a class ring ceremony, and top-notch entertainment—this year, two sold-out performances by Bill Cosby.
11. To start the academic year, local clubs host “Summer Send-Offs” and invite all incoming freshmen and their families to meet established WVU students and their families from the same area. The Parents Club sends University guest speakers to answer student and parent questions. This year, there were 64 summer send-offs across the nation.
12. Each spring since 2000, a Parents Club University has helped to give parent volunteers the resources they needed to be successful officers in their communities. The event features workshops and acclaimed speakers, such as Karen Levin Coburn, author of Letting Go: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding the College Years.
Harve and Rosalind Bennett attended the most recent Parents Club University in preparation for starting a club in northeastern Maryland. Harve, a Morgantown native and WVU graduate, said they were inspired by the rave reviews his sister Marlene Kennedy gave WVU when her son Daniel was attending the University. Through Rosalind’s position as a guidance counselor, they also realized that the number of students from their area enrolling at WVU was growing.
After an organizational meeting attended by Susan Hardesty in April, the new club continued recruiting members and held a summer send-off that exceeded their expectations. This fall, they are planning such activities as a panel discussion with four recent WVU graduates about letting go and a game-watching party for the WVU vs. Maryland football game.
They are also working with other members of their club to distribute WVU information at college recruiting events in their region.
Harve Bennett said his only regret is that he and his wife didn’t take the initiative to form a club sooner, when his daughter Ashley was a WVU freshman. She is now a junior.
The Mountaineer Parents Club, Bennett added, helps to strengthen the bond between parents and students.
“It lets kids know that we validate what they are doing at WVU,” he said.
Like Cipoletti, Bennett appreciates the responsiveness of WVU faculty and staff and the support that the Mountaineer Parents Club provides to individual clubs.
The Mountaineer Parents Club’s leadership, likewise, appreciates the effect that parents have had on the University.
“Parents have contributed to student success, retention, and graduation rates, Mrs. Hardesty said. “We applaud our parents for their active involvement.”
Mountaineer Parents Club Director Sabrina Cave is looking toward the club’s future while celebrating the accomplishments of the past decade.
“The Mountaineer Parents Club has accomplished so much in the past ten years that the future for the club is unlimited,” she said, adding that at least one thing will remain constant: “West Virginia University will continue to meet the needs of families in order for them to support their students.”