Friday, June 29, 2018

Nota Bene: A New Fiscal Year Begins

We are so pleased to welcome Tina Hill, who will officially join us July 1 as Virginia Wesleyan’s new Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. As I have shared previously, Tina is one of the most experienced and respected athletic administrators in the field, having spent the past 28 years in NCAA Division III athletics.
Tina comes to us following a 10-year post as athletics director at Randolph College, and has also worked at Cornell College, California Lutheran University, and Elizabethtown College. She is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and has served on various NCAA and conference committees—including a term as the chair of the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Committee. She currently serves on the NCAA Division III Financial Aid Committee and as chair of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Board of Directors. She holds a B.S. in physical education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and an M.S. in sports management from the University of Richmond.

We welcome Tina as our newest Marlin and look forward, under her leadership, to building on a prominent list of athletic successes and facility improvements in recent years.

Also on July 1, I will begin a two-year term as chair of the Climate Leadership Steering Committee, the chief oversight body of the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments facilitated by the non-profit Second Nature (watch the
video announcement). As chair, I will also serve on the Board of Directors of Second Nature. A signature program of Second Nature, the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments include a Carbon Commitment (focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions), a Resilience Commitment (focused on climate adaptation and building community capacity), and a Climate Commitment that integrates both. We are proud to be a part of this network, which is comprised of more than 600 colleges and universities who have committed to take action on climate.

The 2017-2018 President to President thought-leadership series, for which I serve as co-executive editor with long-time colleague Dr. Marylouise Fennell, is now
available for download. “How Disruptive Innovation is Shaping the Next-Gen Campus and Enabling Student Success” focuses on how new ways of thinking are altering the higher education landscape. Over the course of 10 chapters, college and university presidents share their experiences, insights, and approaches regarding the issues their institutions have faced. We are now hard at work on the 2018-2019 series, which will explore “Ten Challenges Facing Higher Education and How They Are Shaping the Future Student Experience.” 

Finally, part of my job as president is to make sure Virginia Wesleyan University students are truly learning, not just working toward credentials. I was recently asked to weigh in on this topic in a video segment by higher education news publication
Education Dive. I hope you enjoy it.

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend. And if you haven't made your June 30, fiscal-year-end gift to Virginia Wesleyan, you can do so online at
www.vwu.edu/giveonline.