The Board of Visitors Committee on the University’s College at Wise met Friday to discuss joint programs between the University and the College at Wise and the growth the school has recently seen, in addition to hearing from a Wise student.
The meeting was available to the public through a live stream and was held in-person in the Board Room of the Rotunda. It was a part of a two-day series of meetings held by the Board of Visitors.
Committee Chair Eizabeth Cranwell began the meeting with remarks on the meeting schedule before introducing and turning over the meeting to Donna Henry, chancellor of the College at Wise, who introduced the joint programs between the University and Wise and gave broad updates on Wise.
Henry began by providing statistics about enrollment.
“Enrollment and recruitment remains a top priority for the college,” Henry said. “Freshman applications right now are up 20 percent over a five-year average and they are up 30 percent over last year at the same time.”
Henry also used this time to comment on the Bicentennial Scholarship funds, which provide need-based assistance to students at Wise. Wise recently received over 30 million dollars for new Bicentennial Scholarships.
“All of that is directly impacting students at Wise, which as you know from the need of our students, that is just so important,” Henry said.
The Joint Family Nurse Practitioner Program is one of the new programs beginning in the fall 2022 semester and will allow students at Wise to obtain a Master of Science in Nursing through a Family Nurse Practitioner program in three years. The program is mainly targeted at working nurses and therefore will be offered on a part-time basis.
“We will plan to open that program in the fall hopefully with a cohort of about 10 to 15 students but the plan is to grow that program up to about 40 students,” Henry said.
Students will also be provided the occasional opportunity to travel to the University for further instruction. The hope for the program is to provide professional development for local nurses as well as impact the overall health of Southwest Virginians.
The second program introduced by Henry was the Year in Wise Admissions Program, a collaborative effort between the University and Wise admission offices.
In-state applicants who are waitlisted in the University’s admission process are automatically granted admission to Wise regardless of whether they applied. With 30 credit hours and good standing, the student is then eligible to transfer to the University.
Fall 2021 enrollment in Wise through the deferral program was three times as large as the previous year. With this being said, Board member Thomas DePasquale expressed concern about the decrease in Wise students once the deferred students transferred to the University in their second year.
Henry expressed the value that deferred students bring to the Wise community.
“As we grow our first year class of students, that will be balanced in our program,” Henry said. “At this point I don't have any concerns.”
At this point in the meeting, Henry introduced Commerce Prof. Craig Lefanowicz, interim chair for the department of business and economics at Wise. Lefanowicz said he is using his experience at the University to improve the business program offered at Wise.
“I'm learning a lot about what it takes to have a program that's more accessible and more innovative and as best I can, I'm trying to take that process in the things we're learning and apply it to U.Va. Wise and the business department there,” Lefanowicz said.
Lefanowicz also commented on the important steps Wise must take to build partnerships with local businesses, especially in aiding students in the job search once they have graduated.
“I think building these relationships with companies like Cidel and Valid Health is going to be really beneficial,” Lefanowicz said.
Finally, fourth-year Wise student Joshua Mcray spoke with the board on behalf of students and shared comments on Wise. Mcray is the president of the U.Va. Wise Darden Society and has participated in several University internships.
Mcray commented on the importance of the relationship between the University and Wise and the opportunities for Wise students that are created through that connection.
“These partnerships and internships and experiences have really helped enhance my education at Wise and I hope that in the coming years more opportunities like this are advertised and available to incoming students and help bridge those gaps,” Mcray said.
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