PRESIDENT

Fairmont State University

Fairmont, West Virginia

PRESIDENT

The Board of Governors has extended the search for the next president of Fairmont State University and invites expressions of interest, nominations, and applications.

Founded as the first private normal school in West Virginia in 1865, Fairmont State University is a multi-site, public, regional comprehensive university.  In addition to its main campus, it includes the Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center as well as the Gaston Caperton Center.  It is co-located with Pierpont Community and Technical College, which it founded in 1974.

Fairmont State offers over 80 programs of study leading to associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degrees.  It enrolls 3,707 undergraduate and 298 graduate students. Ninety percent of its students are from West Virginia.  Students are taught by 189 full-time and 147 part-time faculty, creating a 14:1 student/faculty ratio, with an average class size of 22.  It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, its most recent reaffirmation being in 2012-13.

The Fairmont State faculty and staff are passionately student-centered.  They pride themselves on excellent teaching and close community relationships among faculty, staff, and students.  They have a history of meeting the educational needs of the region and creating flexible educational options that serve their students well. 

The University consists of six colleges and schools: the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Technology, the School of Business, the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance, the School of Fine Arts, and the School of Nursing and Allied Health Administration.  Fairmont State offers distinctive programs in aviation, engineering technology, and national security and intelligence.  It also offers the only master’s degree in architecture in West Virginia.

The new president will join the University community at a critical juncture.  Because of the prudent leadership and management of its retiring president, Dr. Maria C. Bennet Rose, the University is in solid financial shape and has stable enrollments.  However, to flourish in an environment of increasing cuts in state funding and a decreasing number of high-school graduates, the University must develop a clear sense of its identity, its priorities, and the programs that will produce growth. 

The new president will be expected to lead the University in renewing its strategic plan in ways that meet these challenges.  The president will also need to engage the community successfully, not only to make the case for Fairmont State, but also to partner with it in mutually advantageous ways.

The ideal candidate for the presidency at Fairmont State will have a doctoral degree, a record of successful leadership in higher education or some similar enterprise, and a record of success in fundraising and working with the community and state government. 

For more information and instructions to applicants, please visit

www.agbsearch.com/searches/president-fairmont-state-university.   

For more information about the University, please visit www.fairmontstate.edu

For fullest consideration, applications must be received by August 7, 2017.

Inquiries and nominations should be directed to:

Robert Holyer, Ph.D.

Senior Consultant

 AGB Search

rkh@agbsearch.com 

804-359-9370

804-402-6736 (c)

All inquiries and nominations will be held in the strictest confidence.

Fairmont State University provides equal opportunity to all prospective and current members of the student body, faculty, and staff on the basis of individual qualifications and merit without regard to race, color, gender, national origin, age, height, weight, religion, creed, genetic information, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression/association as identified and defined by law in employment, admissions, and educational programs, and activities.