programming to the citizens of our service area, we at New
River Community and Technical College analyzed what we
are doing and why we are doing it with a critical eye toward
making improvements. This examination led to the creation of an
enrollment funnel that uses the concept of a sales funnel—a joint
project between admissions, communications and faculty—
and applies it to the college enrollment process. By analyzing
each step from initial inquiries and completing an application
to official admission and enrolling in classes, we ensure that
prospective students receive information and support through-
out the process.
We also reviewed the effectiveness of our course offerings
to make sure students can attend classes around work, children
or other obligations. We recommitted to offering night classes,
and we are looking at programs to offer in the evening. Rather
than making late applicants wait until a new semester starts,
we developed accelerated, online courses with a mid-semester
start date.
The above strategies are effective only if New River graduates
can find meaningful employment in the area. Establishing
relationships with employers and recruiting working profes-
sionals on program advisory boards helps us determine the
right mix of programs for the area and ensures the right skills
are being taught. After all, we are committed to being the best
college we can be so that as a college and as a region we can
not only survive but thrive.
Dr. Bob Gunter
President
Southern West Virginia
Community and Technical College
Editor’s Note: After submitting his challenge and solution
for this feature, Dr. Bob Gunter retired from his position as
president at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical
College. He will remain in an advisory capacity to the college’s
board of governors until January 2020. Samuel Litteral has
been named the acting interim president.
CHALLENGE: Southern West Virginia is experiencing a
rapidly aging demographic in need of reliable health care
options and well-qualified health care workers. There is
a dual need for workers as well as the programs offered
through Southern West Virginia Community and Technical
College, but space and other constraints pose a challenge.
SOLUTION: At Southern, we have long prided ourselves on
providing a stellar education in health care-related fields.
Most of the college’s allied health programs have an appli-
cation-based admission process that sees far more qualified
applicants than the college can accept due to space and budget
constraints. The college has sought outside partnerships to help
offset this challenge. For example, working with the Appala-
chian Regional Hospital in South Williamson, KY, Southern
is designing real-world hospital environments to expand our
nursing, medical laboratory technology (MLT) and emergency
medical technician (EMT) programs. This future expansion
fosters the duality of a quality education while ensuring a
health care workforce that is fully prepared and well qualified
to serve its community.
Through this partnership, it was identified that paramedic
science/EMT is in great demand in the coalfields. In fall 2018,
Southern began offering EMT classes at its Williamson campus,
expanding each semester until the full program was offered
at that location.
Southern has written several federal and state grants to help
offset the costs of expansion in regard to faculty salaries and
program equipment. This will include converting a floor on
our Williamson campus into a regional simulation lab, replicat-
ing an authentic hospital setting complete with scenarios and
conditions that will require immediate action, quick thinking
and proper training.
We are also seeking to provide our allied health and nursing
students with the most technologically advanced environment
possible. In spring 2019, we debuted our SynDaver, or synthetic
cadaver, the most elaborate surgical simulator in the world,
as well as laboratory equipment for our MLT program that
will enable students to experience working with technology
both at a theoretical and practical level that reflects the current
direction of the field of laboratory diagnostics. Allowing students
to train on equipment they’ll one day be operating will afford
a seamless transition to their health care careers.
Dr. Mirta Martin
President
Fairmont State University
CHALLENGE: Population loss can be a self-perpetuating
cycle that diminishes opportunities and facilitates a
failure to retain young adults, which in turn lowers state
revenues and tax bases, reduces financial resources and
ultimately lowers opportunities. The question for us at
Fairmont State University is how can we meet the needs
of West Virginia communities and businesses amidst the
declining population?
SOLUTION: Fairmont State University is not only uniquely
suited to address this challenge, but I think it has an obligation
to do so. Colleges and universities don’t exist in vacuums.
They are integral parts of the communities in which they exist,
and those communities are their lifeblood. Higher education
institutions cannot proceed with business as usual when the
communities that surround them—and support them—are
suffering. It is imperative that higher education institutions
understand the knowledge-based workforce needs of industry
and retool their curricula to ensure students are not only pre-
pared for the careers of today but also, just as importantly, for
those careers that do not yet exist.
Fairmont State is an excellent case study for what higher
education can and should do. By developing programs in
nationally in-demand fields such as aviation, architecture and
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