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PARKERSBURG -- West Virginia University at Parkersburg is taking the approach of making the university a "interdependent enterprise" and ''a fully realized owner company,'' officials said.
WVU-P President Chris Gilmer recently announced to the university's Board of Governors the steps the institution will take to make this plan a reality, "one in which the Board of Governors, faculty, staff, administration, students and friends, and the President, view everything we do as an interdependent enterprise--one which can only achieve its maximum potential together.''
Toward that goal, Gilmer said he and the school's executive team have launched The CARE Centers across campus.
''Beginning with some of the most student-facing offices on our campuses and expanding in time to other centers of excellence, the business office becomes the Center for Accounting and Resource Excellence; the One-Stop Shop becomes the Center for Admissions and Recruitment Excellence; the Professional Advising Center (PAC) becomes the Center for Advising and Retention Excellence,'' Gilmer said. ''What's in a name? Well, hopefully we will find out that the right name becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.''
Gilmer said he and the vice presidents collectively adopted this model and have met with the supervisors of these areas and related offices to get feedback and to ask them what tools and resources do they need to do their jobs; in what area or areas do they need to be cross-trained to better understand what their colleagues do and to better serve students; what new rules and structures can they put in place to create maximum enjoyment and efficiency in people doing their job; and what existing rules and structures can they tear down that inhibit enjoyment and efficiency in people doing their job.
Gilmer has tasked Executive Vice President of Finance & Administration Alice Harris, Vice President for Academic & Student Affairs Chad Crumbaker and Vice President Stephen Smith of the WVU-P Jackson County Center to develop an in-depth cross-training model to be implemented first with the staff of the business office, one-stop shop and PAC, and expanding to other offices.
''Every employee, every owner, becomes sufficiently steeped in curriculum, advising, admissions, and financial aid to answer a student's general questions about transfer credit, financial aid deadlines, course sequencing, or the range of academic programs,'' Gilmer said. ''Financial aid counselors remain the experts on financial aid when a deep dive for information is needed, but students no longer get passed from person to person for simple questions, and staff are no longer frustrated because the information needed to answer simple questions has not been shared with them.''
Smith will be drafting a long-term recruitment plan, based on national best practices, local data, and local input received as part of town hall meetings held last year.
''This plan will be built on the life cycle of the student from recruitment through alumni stages, engaging all steps in between the two extremes, and is expected to serve as the basis for a new comprehensive strategic plan,'' Gilmer said. ''Stakeholder feedback will be sought in multiple formats and incorporated into the final products.''
In other business, the university has three projects in the works to get the university involved more with the community, including the exploration of a partnership with Mister Bee potato chips to revitalize the school's farm to grow local potatoes to help meet Mister Bee's demand and to add a "home grown" aspect to the company's product; development of the Arts Collaborative of the Mid-Ohio Valley, a partnership with independent area nonprofit arts organizations for which the university proposes to serve as a resource partner and convener; and development of a memorandum of understanding with the West Virginia Center for Civic Life, which could result in the agency being located on WVU-P's campus.
''Each of these three projects is in development,'' Gilmer said. ''None of the three is yet finalized.''