Reversing enrollment decline among priorities for incoming Westmoreland Co. Community College president

As Westmoreland County Community College grapples with a decline in enrollment and recent turnover in its top leader, incoming president Kristin Mallory aims to stabilize the institution.

The vice president of academic affairs at Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, Md., Mallory was hired as the college’s president last week after an eight-month search. She will begin her three-year term with a salary of $240,000 on July 1.

Mallory comes to the post with familiarity of the college.

She spent six months on campus in 2023 leading an accreditation audit of the college with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

“While I was there, I was very impressed with all the facilities, the programs and the people,” Mallory said. “It just piqued my interest at that time, so when I saw this opportunity arise this past summer (and) fall, I decided the time was right for me, and I was just so very thrilled that it worked out.”

Mallory was hired from a pool of more than 150 applicants.

“We wanted someone who had a good entrepreneurial mindset, a visionary type of outlook for the college,” said board of trustees Chair Bridget Johnston. “That was probably our biggest … factor that we were looking for in terms of all of the different people that applied for the position.”

Focus on student success

Mallory’s focus as president lies on bolstering student success — a key component of the college’s 2024-27 strategic plan finalized in September.

The plan details four primary goals — improving student outcomes, creating more opportunities for students of all backgrounds to complete their chosen academic path, enhancing the workplace for faculty and placing the college on firm financial footing.

Mallory plans to assess the college’s course scheduling to ensure it meets the needs of students.

“It seems like it’s intuitive, but sometimes we may not have the best schedules to meet the students’ needs,” she said. “So how can we provide the courses in the modality — how the course is offered — and the time that will help students to meet their end goals?”

Mallory predicts this will help increase enrollment at the college, which has declined in recent years.

Westmoreland sees decrease in enrollment

After steadily declining from 2020 to 2021, enrollment saw a bump in 2023. The college reported a 4,275-student enrollment in 2023 — about 100 students more than the previous year, but still about 100 short of 2020’s enrollment.

About 3,990 students were enrolled in the college last fall.

Enrollment decline is no stranger to community colleges across the country.

The number of students at community colleges fell 37% — by 2.6 million students — from 2010 to 2023, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

But the numbers are starting to bounce back, the research center reports.

Undergraduate enrollment at two-year community college programs saw a 5.9% increase in the fall — an additional 325,000 students from the 2023-24 academic year, according to a report the research center published in January.

“By continuing that focus on student success and mapping ways to help our students meet their goals,” Mallory said, “that will help with the overall retention rate and completion rate of the students.”

After heavy turnover in the president position, Mallory aims to foster positive relationships with the Westmoreland college community.

“Anytime there’s turnover, it can be challenging. So it’s my goal to create a very stable environment, where people feel welcome to have conversations with me; where I go out and meet with individual groups or meet one-on-one,” Mallory said. “I intend to have an opportunity to hear and really take the concerns and all the wonderful ideas forward in ways that we can continue to move the needle for the college itself.”

Turnover has been norm

Mallory will be the fourth president the Hempfield-based school has had in a year.

After a decade on the job, former President Tuesday Stanley announced in October 2023 she would resign the following summer. Her salary was $209,542.

Stanley left the post in June, staying on as a consultant until December at a salary of $36,000 with benefits.

Kristy Bishop, the college’s vice president of academic affairs, took over as interim president in June. She left the post recently for a job with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

David Devier, a former Michigan community college president, was hired to fill the interim position Jan. 27.

Devier, 71, retired last year after serving a decade as president at Glen Oaks Community College in Michigan. He previously worked as vice president at Clark State College in Ohio and held dean positions at several Ohio community colleges.

He came to the school by way of The Registry, a firm that vets senior higher education leaders to fill roles at schools. An agreement between the college and The Registry indicates Devier could receive a salary up to $212,600 made in monthly payments.