Appalachian Connections
October 2018

Message from Chancellor Sheri Everts

Student success is always at the top of our priorities. A three-part feature on our Appalachian Today news and events website highlights some of the strategies and initiatives we have in place to ensure your student succeeds financially, personally and academically.

Enrollment figures confirmed in early September show overall enrollment topped 19,000. While I am pleased an Appalachian education is in high demand, we are committed to slow and steady growth. We are working to ensure we are growing at a rate we can support and sustain in order to provide a transformative Appalachian Experience to all of our students. You will find information about all the exciting changes that are in the works on our new Appalachian’s Future website.

Thoughts of safety were paramount during our recent brush with Hurricane Florence. We join our sister universities in efforts to assist those institutions which were not so fortunate in the wake of the storm. This story about our student veterans’ efforts during the event is uplifting — and one of many like it.

We closed out the month with a weeklong homecoming celebration. Many of you joined us for the festivities, which included the annual Homecoming Blood Drive (yielding a total of 1,120 units of blood from 1,222 registered donors), a parade and street festival, the ribbon-cutting for the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s Plots and Garden and a crushing 52–7 victory for the Mountaineers over the South Alabama Jaguars.

Fall Break is upon us. As your students share their Appalachian Experience, know we value and appreciate this opportunity to be part of their journey. Sharing student stories with you is important to us. Thank you for listening and sharing in return.