ENGAGE WITH THE PRESIDENT  

Engage with Dr. Laurie Bernotsky as she embarks upon a campus-wide mutual "visioning" tour to inform the first year of her tenure as the 16th President of West Chester University.  As she lays the groundwork for how WCU will continue to thrive, Dr. Bernotsky hopes to hear from as many faculty, staff, students, alumni, community members and local leaders/partners as possible.

If you are unable to attend one of the meetings below, or if you want to share additional thoughts after attending a meeting, please use this website to share your input.  

President Bernotsky with student at commencement

Letter from the President

Dear colleagues, students, and friends of WCU,

In my first Welcome Back address, I promised to make it a priority to engage in a mutual listening tour.  Your thoughts, ideas, and feedback will be critical as we create a shared vision for the next chapter of our beloved institution.   

I have identified several themes, listed below, that we will use to start our conversation. Please know that this is not a comprehensive list, nor do we have to start with these.  In fact, the first question I will ask everyone is, “What’s missing from this list?”    

I invite you to use the form below to share your thoughts about what the next chapter could/should be for WCU.   

After I have gathered your input, I will synthesize what I have heard and share the emerging themes with you in late March.  We can then use that framework to start to build our next strategic plan. 

Thank you for your willingness to participate in this process.  I look forward to hearing from you! 

Yours,

Laurie

Visioning Tour Dates

Housing/Facilities

  • Tuesday, December 10  2:45pm – 4:00pm, Philips Autograph Library
  • Tuesday, December 17  2:30pm - 3:45pm, Zoom

Student Success

  • Tuesday, December 10 11:45am-1:00 pm, Philips Autograph Library
  • Wednesday, December 18 10am-11:15am, Zoom

Financial Sustainability

  • Tuesday, December 10 1:15pm – 2:30pm, Philips Autograph Library
  • Thursday, December 19  2:30pm – 3:45pm, Zoom

National Identity

  • Wednesday, December 11  3:00pm – 4:15pm, Philips Autograph Library
  • Tuesday, December 17  1:00pm – 2:15pm, Zoom

Environmental Sustainability

  • Wednesday, December 11 4:30pm – 5:45pm, Philips Autograph Library
  • Thursday, December 19  1:00pm – 2:15pm, Zoom

 

President Bernotsky's Themes for Discussion

  • Housing/Facilities: Address our housing demand in both short-term and longer-term ways and deferred maintenance/renovation needs as part of a campus-wide master facilities plan. 
  • Student Success: Improve success for all students by erasing equity gaps, enhancing student support structures, and evolving to meet the needs of future students. 
  • Financial Sustainability: Increase financial degrees of freedom by defining/maintaining a strategic enrollment sweet spot and strengthening revenue streams.
  • National Identity: Embrace and build our identity as an R2 (high research activity) and flagship institution beyond this region by thinking differently about our "peer" institutions and aspiring to be national leaders.  
  • Environmental Sustainability: Continue our commitment to environmental sustainability both in terms of our institutional practices/resource constraints and how we prepare our students as future leaders and global citizens. 

Your voice is important. Share your perspective with President Bernotsky as part of her listening tour. Unless indicated, all responses will be shared anonymously.  

Submit feedback