Third West Liberty University Presidential Finalist, Robert Smith, Visits Campus
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WEST LIBERTY - Robert Smith, Valdosta State's provost and vice president of academic affairs, is currently the top academic officer of a Georgia university with more than 10,000 students. He also has served in administrative roles at universities that enroll a few thousand students.
Smith said he would marry all those experiences together if named the next president at West Liberty University. He toured the campus and visited with several constituent groups Monday, the third of four finalists to get a firsthand look at the institution.
Tim Borchers, vice president for Academic Affairs at Peru State College in Nebraska and Kelly Ryan, interim chancellor of Indiana University Southeast, came to campus last week. David Christiansen, chancellor of Penn State York, will be the last finalist to visit campus later this week.
Smith - who also served as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Armstrong State University in Georgia and several roles at Millersville University in Pennsylvania - said that, even though VSU may have a larger student population than WLU, the two universities aren't all that dissimilar.
"The mix of programs and our focus on students and the way in which we teach those things is very similar," he said. (West Liberty has) a smaller student-faculty ratio than we do, and that’s a good thing. That mean students have nice close interactions with faculty, and there they are priceless. So I think there’s much more in common than, I think, that separates us."
As he toured the campus, Smith said he saw a "wonderful institution" that focuses on its students, prepares them for the future and offers many forward-thinking majors in subjects like cybersecurity. He said that forward way of thinking will only benefit the university and its students.
"You’ve got an institution that’s going to not just survive, but thrive," he said. "If an institution is going to thrive, you need to keep one eye if not both eyes, on the horizon on the future. You really need to be constantly building change and growing and only growing in size but growing in terms of what programs are you going to add.
"Those programs should be things that impact students, draw in new students and give them the opportunities to take on jobs that are going to meet the needs of the region," he added.
Smith met with students, faculty and staff during different periods Monday. His afternoon discussion with staff included questions about the role athletics would play for him at WLU, his feelings on engaging with business partners and the greater community as president and campus safety.
The subject of campus safety has been a hot topic since the West Virginia Legislature this year passed a law that allows for concealed carry of firearms in certain areas of college campuses for those with a concealed carry permit. Smith said that has been the law in Georgia for several years now, so he has plenty of experience in dealing with it.
"We do regular tabletop exercises and we do those at various scales," he said. "We have done several full scale exercises where we involve the county sheriff’s office, we involve state police, and we’re very close to Moody Air Force Base, so there's support from the Air Force Base.
"We'll go back to counseling for things that involve students on campus, students who are in crisis," he added. "We have an active (Behavioral Intervention Team) that will assess threats, and we train people to, if you see something, say something. Report it to the BIT team and our BIT team is on it."
Smith has loved his roles as a chief academic officer, but he feels there is more for him to offer to a university, which is why he wants to climb into the role of president. He knows that being a university president in today's climate is a challenge, but he has always been up for challenges.
"I think it would be a wonder challenge for me and an opportunity for me to have an impact across a broader swath of what we are as an institution," he said. "Not just the classroom and academics, but student affairs, advancement, everything that we do."