The President's Letter 
August 2016
A monthly
communiqué from
Dr. Scott D. Miller

President of the College
A New Academic and Fiscal Year Begins
Good morning,
 
Another busy summer at Virginia Wesleyan College has come and gone. In just a few weeks, our students will return to campus and unpack their semester's worth of belongings in the residence halls. How times have changed, when those of us who departed for college a generation ago brought little more than a suitcase or two!

Much has changed in higher education in many other ways. As we "unpack" our agenda for the 2016-17 academic year, I'd like to invite you to watch my State of the College Address on August 23 as I offer a preview of how these changes are already shaping our future for the better. Additional information about a live webcast will be forthcoming. Please check the VWC homepage as we draw closer to the event.  

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Some highlights from this past month:  
  • July 1 not only marked the start of our new academic and fiscal year, but also the beginning of new leadership on our Board of Trustees. My special thanks to Gary Bonnewell '79 for his service as Board Chair since 2013. Gary was our very first alumnus to be elected as Chair, and we are appreciative of his service and fine leadership. He will continue to serve on the Board as Immediate Past Chair. David Kaufman will succeed Gary as Board Chair. David is a founding member and Senior Managing Director of the private equity firm, Envest. Our new Vice Chair is Jon Pruden, co-owner and president of TASTE. Bill Thumel, president of Abacus of Hampton Roads, is now the Secretary for the Board. Anne Shumadine continues her service as Treasurer of the Board. Anne is the Chairman and a Founder of Signature Family Wealth Advisors. Henry Watts, a former Board chair, is the Parliamentarian. Henry is a retired Vice Chairman of Norfolk Southern Corporation. We are pleased to have some of our community's most admired and respected leaders guiding our Board.
  • I was honored to speak to aspiring college presidents at the Executive Leadership Academy (ELA) in Washington, D.C. last month. My address, "Presidential Transitions: Preparing, Implementing, and Living," helped experienced provosts and vice presidents prepare for their future leadership roles. The ELA is a selective, year-long program co-sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), and the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI). It consists of two national seminars, readings, a year-long Experiential Plan, group work, executive coaching, and a mentoring experience.
  • I recently attended the oath-of-office ceremony for the Mayor and the Council of the City of Norfolk. Kenneth Cooper Alexander was elected Mayor on May 3. Members of Norfolk's City Council include Nicole Carry, Angelia Graves, Mamie Johnson, Andria McClellan, Paul Riddick, Thomas Smigiel, Jr., and Dr. Theresa Whibley. I also attended the swearing-in ceremony for Norfolk Public Schools newly elected school board members Rodney Jordan and Dr. Noelle Gabriel at Granby High School. We look forward to a productive relationship with these leaders in the City of Norfolk.
  • In a history-making decision, the Rev. Sharma D. Lewis from Decatur, Georgia, has been elected as a Bishop in the United Methodist Church. She is the first African-American woman from the South to be elected to the denomination's highest office, and she will be the Bishop for the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. As Bishop, she will serve as an ex officio member of our Board of Trustees. I look forward to working with her and introducing her to the Virginia Wesleyan community.
     
  • From July 25-30, we welcomed high school juniors and seniors to campus as part of Virginia Private College Week, sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV). Along with 23 other participating colleges, VWC offered campus tours and information sessions about admissions, financial aid and our academic programs, while also addressing common myths about the cost of a private college education. For more information about the CICV, visit www.vaprivatecolleges.org. 
  • Innovative application of high-impact educational practices has earned Virginia Wesleyan recognition as a 2016-2017 College of Distinction. The honor recognizes institutions that make an exemplary commitment to Four Distinctions: Engaged Students, Great Teaching, Vibrant Community, and Successful Outcomes. Each school is evaluated on key indicators such as student engagement, student empowerment, and curricular innovation. The annual process also includes a review of the institutions' freshman experience, as well as the general education program, strategic plan, and alumni success and satisfaction measures.
     
  • For over a decade, long-time consulting and publishing colleague Marylouise Fennell, Senior Counsel at the Council of Independent Colleges, and I have served as executive editors of "Presidential Perspectives," a popular internationally distributed higher education leadership series written by college presidents for college presidents. The print version of the 2015-16 series, titled "Innovative Concepts to Achieve Campus Transformation," was recently published by Philadelphia-based Aramark Higher Education and is the 10th anniversary edition. Chapters are authored by notable presidents whose institutions are in the forefront of innovative practices in these areas. I am proud to share this personal accomplishment and invite you to view individual chapters and yearly editions of the series at presidentialperspectives.org.
     
  • Virginia Wesleyan's 2016-17 Academic Catalog is now available on our website. The catalog presents essential information about the College, including course descriptions and curriculum information as well as policies, procedures, regulations, and requirements. I hope this document serves as a useful planning tool and helps ensure a smooth start to the fall semester.
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Finally, each year we recommit ourselves to enhancing the beauty and learning environment of Virginia Wesleyan's campus. Today's students expect comfort, convenience, and contemporary features, where they live, work, and play. The continued success of our fundraising initiatives will ensure that we remain competitive in attracting some of America's best and brightest to our campus.

Part of our agenda each year, however, is finding the resources to recruit and retain faculty, to provide the tools of contemporary instruction and research, and to assist students with the shifting norms and values of a fast-paced society. Although we often stress the need for scholarship dollars to underwrite student opportunity, gifts dedicated for faculty research and development are equally welcomed and valued in meeting the true cost and contemporary needs of a Virginia Wesleyan education.

Much progress has already been achieved in enriching the academic, residential, recreational and athletic facilities of Virginia Wesleyan College; as we work through the next phases of our strategic plan, your support as alumni and friends of Virginia Wesleyan will foretell the pace of our improvements. Thank you for your gifts and pledges thus far. We hope you will visit soon to experience the dynamic "new" but traditionally beautiful and inspiring campus of Virginia Wesleyan College.

The success of any higher-education agenda depends on a proactive view of the internal and external forces that influence success. Virginia Wesleyan's fundamental goal as a national liberal arts college is not simply to react to those forces, but to lead the necessary process of planning for change that will anticipate and prevail over them.

I am confident that the new academic year will see significant contributions to our standing as a leader in American higher education--indeed, as Coastal Virginia's Premier Private National Liberal Arts College.


Sincerely,
 
Scott D. Miller, Ph.D. 
President 
Virginia Wesleyan College 
1584 Wesleyan Drive 
Norfolk, VA 23502

Phone: 757.455.3215 
Fax: 757.455.3139 
Email: sdmiller@vwc.edu