Office of the President

Newsworthy & Notable Quotes from the President's State of the University Address

I think we all can make an impact on each other's lives. I was talking to a graduate student and I told him, "You can speak an encouraging word and that word can have so much power that it will reflect an interesting, illuminating outcome to your family, to a neighborhood, to a city, a state, a nation." He said, "Mr. Hank, you are so right."

Mr. President, Mr. Lewis, I would like to challenge all of us today to live a life of integrity, live a life of respect toward one another, be patient with one another. I believe those are the attributes that can lead to a prosperous and successful life.
Mr. Hank Countee, WCU maintenance technician and mentor to countless students.

We have had huge growth. We've had about 20 percent enrollment increase in the past five years. We have hired 300 new tenure-track faculty in the last six years. We have brought in outstanding faculty and thus continued to provide quality education without missing a beat.
WCU Interim President Chris Fiorentino

By analyzing our undergraduate offerings and expertise, we have been able to consider potential for growth in graduate education. One recent example of this is the addition of the Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's programs. WCU has been a leader in the State System by advocating for a State System wide-policy that allows undergraduates the opportunity to get an early start on their graduate degree, and continue their educational career as part of the WCU family. I am pleased to announce that we launched seven accelerated programs this fall semester.
Dr. Amanda Phillips, WCU interim dean of Graduate Studies

The Green Dot program believes that bystanders are the key to reducing sexual assault, and other forms of violence on our college campus. Red dots represent sexual assaults or other acts of power-based personal violence, or a choice to tolerate or perpetuate this violence.

We train students, faculty and staff to do Green Dots -- small actions that interrupt and stop Red Dots from happening or proactive work that helps to change our campus norms, and keeps Red Dots from ever happening in the first place.

We've trained approximately 400 students during our six-hour trainings and close to 200 staff and faculty. Over 1,000 students have seen overview speeches. In our trainings, we ask people to confidentially share if they know someone who has been affected by power-based acts of violence, and consistently 90% of the room says that they have, over and over again. That tells us that this is an issue that affects all of us, across this campus. Green Dot gives us a way to be more involved -- no one is expected to solve this problem on their own, but for things to change, we all have to do something.
Dr. Erin Hurt, an associate professor of English and a trainer in WCU's Green Dot program