WESLEYAN GOING STRONG

By Amelia Harper

Over the past five years, N.C. Wesleyan College has shown amazing growth.

When former president Dewey Clark assumed the helm of the college in 2014, the traditional day student enrollment was 575. Now, college administrators expect to see almost 1,200 students attending school on campus in the fall.

Five years ago, the college was the secondsmallest college in the state. Since then, the college has advanced ten places on that list. It has been the fastest-growing private college in the state for much of that time period.

Clark resigned his position in June, but interim President Evan Duff said he expects that recent changes made to the school’s organizational structure will benefit the school even more in the future.

“We plan to reallocate resources to programs and services that directly impact and improve the experiences of our students in both our traditional and ASPIRE adult program,” Duff said.

Over the past five year, as the school has grown, new buildings have been added or upgraded. A new dorm has been added to the campus and the cafeteria and bookstore have been completely renovated. Two additional buildings off campus have been donated to the college as well. And plans are in place to make additional improvements to the school’s athletic facilities.

Academic changes have been made as well. Two years ago, the college launched its first masters level program and has already graduated students from that Master of Criminal Justice degree.

In anticipation of the coming of the new CSX facility and other new industries like Corning and Triangle Tire, which will be making their homes in the Twin Counties within the next two years, a new bachelor’s degree in logistics will be offered at Wesleyan in the fall.

The growth of local business and industry also will mean the need for more highlytrained individuals in the business field. Wesleyan college has applied with the SACS accreditation board to offer a second master’s degree. Once approved, college leaders expect to launch a Master of Business Administration degree on Jan. 6, 2020. According to a recent

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press release from the college, this online program will be the only MBA program offered locally to the Twin Counties.

Based on a recent letter from Duff to alumni of the school, Wesleyan also has other plans for program expansion in mind. The college is considering offering an RN-to-BSN program that will allow registered nurses to obtain their bachelor’s degree. Students who are pursuing a degree in music production and entertainment arts at the college will soon have more job shadowing opportunities and potential internships. Part of this expansion of that program will involve a partnership with Sony Music that will provide aspiring music producers and songwriters a chance to gain real world experiences in New York City, the letter said.

For more information about N.C. Wesleyan College, go to https://ncwc.edu.

Five years ago, the college was the secondsmallest college in the state. Since then, the college has advanced ten places on that list. It has been the fastestgrowing private college in the state for much of that time period.

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