Many pages have been turned in the Roanoke College story.
Over 181 years, the school has seen both prosperous periods and times of tribulation as it has shifted, often with the patterns of national or global change, and ceaselessly stretched toward a stronger iteration of itself.
Now, far from the humble pastor’s home in Augusta County that welcomed the first dozen students in 1842, Roanoke College is entering another chapter – one that will be characterized by imagination, innovation, courage and growth.
“The outcomes that Roanoke College has historically produced in people is as a result of what is deep in the College’s DNA,” said President Frank Shushok Jr. “Our alumni care about other human beings and their communities. They are critical thinkers and bridge builders, and they are team-oriented. These are the outcomes that Roanoke College has been producing in graduates for a long time, and I don’t think that has changed.
“What must change are our methodologies, because the speed of change in the 21st century is fast and only becoming more rapid,” he said. “Our ability to meet the needs of the students we serve must be always adapting. It’s just the way the world works now.”
Since Shushok became Roanoke’s 12th president last year, his leadership team has launched a series of initiatives aimed at improving student success and well-being, strengthening the College’s financial and academic foundations, and driving more collaboration between the school and the local community. With every step toward a new future, Shushok has championed transparency, input from the entire College community, and tireless optimism that Roanoke will evolve to accomplish goals we never could have imagined.
It is an ideal time to be visionary, as colleges and universities nationwide enter a period of unprecedented societal and industry challenges. Higher education in general faces a supply-and-demand problem brought on by a declining number of high school graduates across the country, demographic changes in those classes, an unpredictable post-pandemic economy, and a political climate that has thrown the value of higher education into question.
Only two types of institutions will be insulated: those with colossal endowments and those that are courageous and nimble enough to adapt. Roanoke does not yet fit into the first category (at $149 million, our endowment is a fraction of what many peer institutions report), so it must stand out in the latter group. Shushok and other college leaders are advancing on that goal, but it will require the investment of time and financial resources from every corner of the college community.
Among other undertakings, the College is working to engage more Maroons – not just during the four years they are students, but over their lifetimes. Only 16% of Roanoke College alumni donate to the College, and that figure must increase to 25% by 2025 to keep pace with need and inflation. Alumni gifts contribute to essential campus needs, including scholarships and financial aid for students, academic programs, campus infrastructure, faculty recruitment and retention, student research, student life and classroom technology. And although 86% of Roanoke College students need financial aid and 100% receive aid, only about 17% have that need fully met.
“Alumni Giving is not just a mark of financial success for a college, it is a testament to the strength of the community and the impact of education,” said Kim Blair ’93, vice president for advancement. “The more alumni give, the more we can invest in the future of our institution and the more we can provide opportunities for future generations to better themselves and the world around them.”
Now, more than ever, college students must have meaningful experiences and strong outcomes, and schools must partner with one another, industry leaders, community organizations and their own alumni to ride out the storm and emerge stronger on the other side.
Despite these challenges, Shushok is optimistic.
“I’m very bullish on higher education. I really am,” he said. “I think higher education will continue to play an essential role in the future of our community, our country and our world. But those schools that will be at the forefront will be those that are innovative, agile and willing to take calculated risks to be different, to ask new questions, and to invite new people into the conversation. I think that’s the future of higher education.”
Joining forces
The pristine city of Salem sometimes feels like an oasis, but it certainly is not an island. Roanoke College is surrounded by strong industries and quality schools, including community colleges and state universities, and Shushok sees those schools not as competitors, but as partners.
Identifying Virginia’s economic needs, which include qualified candidates in technology fields, is what led to an exciting new partnership between Roanoke College and Virginia Tech that aims to bolster the workforce in key industries and improve student outcomes.
In March, Roanoke became the first college in Virginia to sign agreements with Virginia Tech that will make it easier for Roanoke students to transition into graduate programs in computer science or computer engineering. The new Direct to Tech program will provide Roanoke students direct admission to Virginia Tech Master of Engineering programs in computer science and applications or computer engineering upon graduation from Roanoke, while an accelerated 4+1 undergraduate/graduate program sets students up to complete a master’s degree in one of those areas at Virginia Tech just one year after graduation from Roanoke.
Professor Anil Shende interacts with students in one of his computer science classes at Roanoke College.
The Virginia Tech agreements followed the announcement last year that Roanoke College will begin offering an MBA this summer. That program was approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, paving the way for additional graduate programs. The College hopes to add as many as seven new in-person, online or hybrid graduate programs in the next five years.
A partnership that is currently in the works aims to make bachelor’s degrees more accessible to students at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke. This direct-admit agreement would welcome all Virginia Western students enrolled in transfer programs who meet certain criteria. Once admitted, those students would be invited to Roanoke’s campus frequently to be advised on course selection and build a sense of belonging, all of which is designed to keep them on the four-year path to graduation.
A related plan that was approved by faculty in April will allow students who complete an associate’s degree at a community college concurrent with their high school classes to transfer those classes to Roanoke and earn the same standing as if they’d taken those courses after high school graduation.
One more example of community collaboration is the Bridges Program, which education faculty spearheaded to help increase the number of teachers of color in local school divisions. Students in grades 9-12 in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem public schools who are interested in becoming teachers can join the program to access Roanoke College advising and events leading up to high school graduation, followed by financial aid at Roanoke College and, after Roanoke, preferential hiring in the partner school systems.
As Roanoke College looks to the future, leaders will strive to build additional bridges across the educational and employment spectrum that will bolster not only student success and the health of the College, but also the economics and workforce of the surrounding community.
“I don’t think divide and conquer is going to win the day,” Shushok said. “I think we need to link arms and lift up collectively, pool resources, design together, understand the needs of the community, and constantly be asking the question: What are the needs that people around us have, and how can we use our resources in partnership with others to help close the gap?”
Assistant Director of Admissions Tyler Wertman, who focuses on transfer and graduate recruitment at Roanoke College, chats with a student at Virginia Western Community College.
I think higher education will continue to play an essential role in the future of our community, our country and our world. But those schools that will be at the forefront will be those that are innovative, agile and willing to take calculated risks to be different, to ask new questions, and to invite new people into the conversation. I think that’s the future of higher education.
~ President Frank Shushok Jr.
Creative collaboration
Over the past eight months, faculty and administrators across campus have been workshopping the creation of schools that would elevate awareness of focus areas buried within the College’s existing academic structure. An example might be a school of health, science and sustainability that folds in existing programs such as health and exercise science, environmental studies and public health.
Kathy Wolfe, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, said creating a new academic structure could create new leadership opportunities for school deans and facilitate greater interdisciplinary collaboration across departments. Industry leaders and practitioners, including alumni, might be interested in serving on advisory boards and providing focused feedback to help strengthen opportunities for students.
“I think pulling programs together in this kind of organization and putting leadership in charge of facilitating, deliberately and intentionally, a process of collaborating in an interdisciplinary way is really exciting,” Wolfe said. “I mean, there is no big problem in the world today that can be solved from the perspective of just one discipline. The more interdisciplinary lenses the students get in their degree programs, the better prepared they will be for the world we're in.”
A faculty taskforce was created to generate ideas and create draft structures, while the larger College community has been invited to brainstorming sessions and focus groups. Wolfe said that work will continue over the next year, culminating in a new structure that amplifies Roanoke’s academic strengths.
“The perception of higher education is shifting, and the role of higher ed in the community and the region is changing,” Wolfe said. “If we want to remain relevant, we need to change, and there is never going to be a time when we can say, ‘Okay, I guess we're done changing.’ The institutions of higher education that are still around in 20 years will be the ones that know how to be agile and nimble all the time.”
Students first
Students have always been at the heart of Roanoke College’s mission, and their learning and success will continue to be centered as the school advances into the future.
To improve retention and graduation rates, the College has joined the Moving the Needle partnership, which is administered by a higher education consulting firm, Credo, and is designed to unearth and address cultural elements that work against student success and well-being.
Roanoke also recently joined the Hispanic Association for Colleges and Universities (HACU), a nonprofit whose mission is to promote Hispanic student success in higher education. This membership will allow Roanoke students to access HACU’s initiatives, experts and resources, including internships, scholarships and leadership development programs.
In addition, Roanoke has introduced faculty, staff and students to the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment tool, which measures an individual’s natural patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving and offers guidance on how to leverage those talents in all facets of life.
Zoey Nichols ’23 took the assessment with staff in Residence Life & Housing, where she is a student worker, and she found her results enlightening.
“I definitely think it could be helpful across campus, because it helped me discover some new things about myself, like how much I love learning inside and outside the classroom,” Nichols said. “I think it could help others discover who they are and help them figure out new things and start using their strengths to their advantage.”
In the future, CliftonStrengths results will be incorporated into classes, career advising, residence life and other areas of campus. And faculty and staff, who can serve as strengths coaches for students, have begun to discuss how their results might better inform teamwork across campus.
“CliftonStrengths is a valuable tool that can help students unlock their potential, discover where they excel and think about lines of work that might best suit them,” said Dean of Students Tom Rambo, who used the tool in his Team Dynamics class. “My students loved it.”
Introducing a new look
Maroons who visited campus for Alumni Weekend this year may have noticed that the school logo has a fresh look. The new logo is part of a full rebranding, unveiled in April, that is a fitting companion to other initiatives in the works at Roanoke. It will be deployed across the College’s many products and platforms, including on-campus signage, merchandise, print publications and the website, which is undergoing a full redesign that will be completed later this summer.
“While the core mission of nurturing and launching the talent of our graduates into the world has been remarkably steady, the way we communicate our mission and value is always adapting to best reach the next generation of prospective students,” Shushok said.
A hallmark of the rebranding is the logo, a sharp new shield divided into four quarters. The images within these quarters represent key elements of the College’s values, traditions and aspirations: our founding in 1842; our distinct campus architecture; our mascot, the maroon-tailed hawk; and the white dogwood flower, a symbol of Virginia, our tree-studded campus and our Lutheran heritage.
The shield logo, along with a new color palette, typography, patterns, graphics and writing voice, were established through a collaboration between Roanoke College’s Office of Marketing and Communications and Ologie, an award-winning marketing and branding agency. The new branding was informed by extensive market research with all Roanoke College audiences.
“This project is the most comprehensive new branding exercise the College has undertaken in more than a decade,” said Melanie Wine Tolan, vice president for marketing and communications. “Our goal was to develop fresh creative pieces that capture attention and resonate with current and future Maroons.
“Our visual brand is how the world sees us, and I’m proud of the team that worked with input from the community to create this,” she said. “The work is strong and uplifting and represents a new era, showcasing the many dimensions of Roanoke College.”
Down to a science
When Roanoke College first began to envision and fundraise for a new Science Center in 2011, the world was a different place: Most people had never heard of Instagram, Venmo or Uber; the iPad and Oculus hadn’t been invented; and only epidemiologists and doomsayers lost sleep over the specter of a pandemic.
Since then, the technology for instruction and research has changed dramatically, as have the skills students need to succeed in jobs of the future. In addition, the country has seen the highest increase in construction costs in 50 years, with inflation altering the projected cost of the original Science Center design from $50 million in 2012 to $100 million today.
But Roanoke’s leaders don’t want to continue to chase inflation; they want to act now and build a state-of-the-art facility that will provide students with transformative education in the sciences and help grow enrollment.
“Having a new president come in with experience and background in working on capital projects has allowed us to view this project through a new lens,” said Kim Blair ’93, vice president for advancement. “We want to move with urgency and actualize the vision to transform science education at Roanoke.”
To that end, the College has adopted a new design for the Science Center that is efficient, flexible and sustainable. The Charlottesville, Virginia-based architectural firm VMDO, which designed the Cregger Center, has been hired to re-envision an educational facility that will accommodate more technology in a smaller footprint and foster opportunities for greater interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation and accessibility.
“We do quality science here with undergraduate students in these current buildings, where we are working with good equipment and publishing our findings,” said Biology Professor Chris Lassiter, “but with a new Science Center, we’ll have facilities that reflect the quality of the science that is going on and that help to engage all students, as well as build communities among the sciences.”
The College’s updated Science Center initiative will hold costs to $60 million and break construction into phases, beginning with a $30 million new facility that will stand where Massengill Hall now exists, then progressing to renovations of Trexler Hall and Life Sciences. The goal is to break ground in early 2024.
“Adapting our initial plan for the Science Center ensures that we uphold our promise to bring to life a long-held vision for scientific transformation at Roanoke,” said President Frank Shushok Jr. “We remain committed to building a remarkable facility that inspires all of us. I’m confident that our adapted approach for the Science Center will take Roanoke College to new heights.”
To read more about the Science Center or make a contribution to the project, visit roanoke.edu/science_center.
