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2015 State of the College Address

President Scott D. Miller highlights successes; shares vision and goals in first State of the College Address


President Scott D. MillerNews Release | August 18, 2015

Virginia Wesleyan College President Dr. Scott D. Miller discussed “where we’ve been, the challenges and opportunities confronting us today, and our plans for the future” during his first State of the College Address to trustees, faculty and staff on Aug. 18 in the Convocation Hall inside the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

“I am confident about our future here at Virginia Wesleyan,” Dr. Miller stated. “Our campus is vibrant, our faculty and staff are devoted professionals, and our possibilities for collaboration and innovation are exceptional.”

“My wife Annie and I thank you for the warm and gracious Wesleyan welcome we have received from all of you,” he said. “It is a testament to the caring community that Virginia Wesleyanites enjoy that our first weeks with you have been exceptionally productive, most kind, and very exciting. We are thrilled to be here and very much feel a part of the Wesleyan Family.”

“As strategic planning for sustainable growth continues to undergird all our endeavors and programs, Virginia Wesleyan College looks forward to a new academic year in which we continue to position the College to meet the needs of a volatile and highly competitive marketplace,” he continued. “In these uncertain times for higher education, the College is nevertheless poised for growth, expanding influence and leadership, and increased service to our state, the region, and the nation.”

Miller highlighted four key areas in the College’s success:

  • Enrollment: The College expects approximately 440 new students, including 360 freshmen and 80 transfers, maintaining a fall headcount enrollment of over 1,400 and 1,300 full-time.
  • Finances: Overall assets have grown to almost $149 million, endowment to approximately $58 million, and financial processes in place have gained external recognition for transparency. He noted that the College has strengthened its Business and Finance area with the implementation of a wide variety of higher education best practices, with a goal of increasing total revenues from all sources while demonstrating fiscal responsibility. He said the College remains committed to the “Quality Service Pledge”: “We pledge to make service at Virginia Wesleyan College friendly and considerate, prompt and efficient, clear and flexible.” 
  • Resource Acquisition: The College had a banner year receiving numerous “transformational contributions”: an anonymous gift to fully fund the 40,000-square-foot Greer Environmental Sciences Center, and a series of gifts to fund a multi-purpose outdoor athletic complex (Birdsong Field) with artificial turf, lights, stands, concessions, and state-of-the-art scoreboard. The College is finalizing discussions to construct a new privately funded jointly operated facility on campus in partnership with the YMCA of South Hampton Roads.
  • Creating a more student-centered living and learning environment: The College has completed a series of renovation and expansion projects to accommodate year one of a Quality Enhancement Plan. Virginia Wesleyan is widely recognized, he noted, as a college committed to student-centeredness, reflecting the College’s recent initiatives to serving the changing needs and expectations of today’s college students.

He welcomed the newest members of the faculty:

  • Dr. M. Annette Clayton — Assistant Professor of Social Work and Internship Director
  • Dr. William J. McConnell — Assistant Professor of Education
  • Dr. Bryson Mortensen — Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Music
  • Dr. William R. Pruitt — Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
  • Ms. Sophie Rondeau — Technical Services Librarian
  • Dr. Antje Verena Schwennicke — Assistant Professor of Political Science        
  • Dr. Jason Squinobal — Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Music
  • Dr. Jill Sturts — Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies

In other citations and announcements, President Miller said: 

  • Some adjustments have been made to the College's organizational model including the appointment of a Chief of Staff and a Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst, reorganizing student affairs and enrollment services areas, and re-directing the reporting relationships of admissions and intercollegiate athletics to the president.
  • Noted authority and former Old Dominion University president James V. Koch led an institutional review of the College during the transition. Commissioned by the Board of Trustees, he and his team of researchers devoted a significant portion of time to data analysis and to interviewing more than 100 stakeholders of the College. The Institutional Review contains specific recommendations for institutional progress.

Virginia Wesleyan has garnered many “points of pride,” President Miller noted:

  • The College has once again been chosen as one of the nation’s best by The Princeton Review and will be featured in its guide, The Best 380 Colleges: 2016 Edition. Student responses to The Princeton Review include the following kinds of statements: The strength of Virginia Wesleyan College, located across 300 “beautiful” wooded acres in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, lies in its capability “to create a community feel and successfully bring new students into the fold seamlessly.” Students love the college’s compact size, which is “small enough that you can walk into a room and name at least five people whom you know and like, but big enough that it is not full of clones.”
  • The College has also been selected by The Princeton Review as one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada, and is profiled in its Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition.
  • The College was recognized as one of the top eight liberal arts colleges in the country for veterans by U.S. News & World Report in its ranking of the Best Colleges for Veterans.
  • This College is also a 2015-2016 College of Distinction, chosen for excellence in student-focused higher education and exemplary commitment to the Four Distinctions set forth by CollegesofDistinction.com. These are: engaged students, great teaching, a vibrant community, and successful outcomes.
  • The College was featured by Forbes on its 2015 list of “50 College Gems With Bargain Tuitions, SAT Optional Policies And Openings.”

Academics

  • The five strategic priorities in the strategic plan, VWC 2020: Pathway to Prominence, are clearly the focus of efforts to enhance faculty excellence and promote intellectual inquiry, active and experiential learning, and civic engagement for students.
  • The College has invested more than $4.5 million in the natural sciences through facility renovations, additions of major equipment and STEM-focused scholarships. Last year, The National Science Foundation awarded a grant of $123,000 to the College for the purchase of a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. Enrollment in the natural sciences has grown by 111 percent in the last five years and Biology has become the most popular major, representing 12.1 percent of the student population last fall.
  • Building on the legacy of its 4 x 4 curriculum, the College continues to be a national leader in curricular innovation. The Teagle Foundation awarded a grant of $280,000 as the lead institution in a four-campus, 30-month consortium examining ways to build “a more compelling and coherent liberal arts curriculum.” Consortium partners are Davis & Elkins College, Eckerd College, and Shenandoah University.
  • The College’s 21-member Model UN team won Honorable Mention recognition at the April 2015 Model United Nations Conference in New York—the second time the team has gained such acclaim.
  • Professor of Philosophy Steven Emmanuel co-edited Kierkegaard’s Concepts, a magisterial, six-volume, 1500-page compendium, for which the final volume was published in 2015.
  • Faculty and staff have worked hard for the upcoming reaffirmation of accreditation visit with the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools- Commission on Colleges in September.
  • The establishment of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Engaged Learning (INTEL) in the Batten Center will further open doors for leadership and support for academic initiatives. Thanks to the efforts of  Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean Kathy Stolley, and those on the INTEL Committee,  for leading the charge to support faculty in developing innovative approaches to their teaching while expanding academic technology.
  • In partnership with Norfolk State University, several members of the faculty and staff have served on a regional group devoted to support for a commemorative event in 2019 to honor the 400-year anniversary of the first arrival of African slaves in Virginia and other important events in Virginia’s history. Plans are underway to build momentum for the 2019 commemoration, and Virginia Wesleyan will host the 2015-16 Speakers/Events series for this collaborative venture.
  • The College continues to support faculty excellence in many ways: 10 “Talk about Teaching” sessions were presented by 22 members of the faculty; sixteen faculty members attended the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy sponsored by the Center for Instructional Development and Education Research; and two INTEL grants were funded for faculty projects. A grant supported two digital humanities workshops for faculty, and the work of 40 faculty members was touted at the annual “Feather in Your Cap” faculty recognition event.

Student Life

  • Strengthening connections between the College and the community resulted in new relationships with organizations such as Peace Corps Prep, NATO ACT, the Together We Can Foundation, U.S, China Century Education Program (American Tourism and Culture Internships), and the Western Bayside Neighborhood that surrounds our campus. The College’s week-long On-Campus Winter Homeless Shelter, in its ninth year, continues to be a crown jewel for the campus and an experience that students and all involved find transformational.
  • The College successfully implemented the LiveSafe app which helped to engage students and enhance campus communications with regard to safety. And the adoption of an electronic guest "front gate registration" program was a collaborative effort by SGA and Campus Security. Compliments to Director of Campus Security Jerry Mance, and his staff, for their good work in keeping a safe and secure campus.
  • Student community service continued at a noteworthy level of engagement—the College’s partnership with Virginia Beach Public Schools at Shelton Park Elementary garnered recognition as a model partnership for the city.
  • Recreational activities, known by students as RecX, increased student participation by ten percent; and the sustained growth and development of campus spiritual life continued to grow and thrive.

Intercollegiate Athletics

  • Men’s basketball reached the NCAA Division III Final Four;
  • Women's Basketball team won their first-ever ODAC Championship;
  • Both the men's and women's basketball teams competed in the NCAA national tournament;
  • Softball competed in the NCAA Regional Tournament and finished 11th in the country. The team was recognized as the NCAA statistical champion for steals per game. 
  • The College’s men’s athletic teams brought home their first ODAC Commissioner’s Cup.
  • Virginia Wesleyan was named 40th best college for female athletes. This encompasses all three NCAA divisions. Among Division III colleges, Virginia Wesleyan as 11th. The College was the only ODAC member to break the top 50. 
  • Four Marlin athletes were honored as All-Americans.

Advancement

  • More than $600,000 in renovations to Blocker Hall;
  • Completion of the Floyd E. Kellam, Jr., Social Sciences Lab and the establishment of a maintenance reserve for this space;
  • Planning and design for a new academic arts building to be named after Susan and David Goode. Five-year gifts and pledges have surpassed $6 million.
  • Funding was secured and design completed for the 40,000-square-foot Greer Environmental Sciences Center which will open in fall 2017.
  • Near completion of the $3 million Birdsong Field, the synthetic turf field with lights and concession stands. Scheduled for completion on September 1, the project will also provide additional parking for Village II.
  • Renovations have been made in the Jane P. Batten Student Center to create a new home for the Adult Studies Program;
  • The new Center for Experiential Learning in Clarke Hall is now home to Undergraduate Research, Study Away/international programs, Career Services and Internships;
  • Other campus improvements have included renovations in Bray Village, roof replacements on Gum and Boyd Halls, residence-life offices in Brock Village, and increased bandwidth and other upgrades to our technology.          

The Future

President Miller outlined his vision for the future of Virginia Wesleyan as he also invited the campus community to contribute to the achievement of distinctive goals:

  • Grow headcount enrollment to 2,000, including 1,500 full-time over the next three to five years.
  • Establish dual-degree and bachelor’s-to-master’s programs with distinguished partners. Also, dual-credit programs with outstanding secondary school partners.
  • Explore accelerated three-year bachelor's degree programs for exceptional students in certain programs.
  • Grow the Adult Studies Program including some new programs, a mixture of delivery formats and a manageable online program in selected academic fields. He proposed a series of new certificate programs, some summer graduate programs for teachers in areas such as biology, chemistry and environmental science, possible satellite locations, and perhaps a new master of education program in, for example, educational administration.
  • Explore international recruitment markets in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, India, and other advancing nations.
  • Expand auxiliary revenues to better utilize summer and break periods to generate additional revenues.
  • Grow the alumni participation rate by 10 percent this year.
  • Explore improvements to some of the older residence halls and construction of new, including the possibility of privatized housing on a 12-acre property directly across from the campus.

“We have a beautiful campus in a fantastic location,” he concluded. “The many bright, talented people I’ve met throughout the campus community have impressed me with their knowledge, dedication, and commitment to Virginia Wesleyan. If we work together, the opportunities for this College are unlimited.”