Dr. Kristin Woolever started her first official day in office as the new Chancellor for Penn State Brandywine on Tuesday, February 4.
Dr. Woolever took over the position from Dr. George Franz, who served as interim chancellor after Dr. Sophia Wisniewska left Brandywine to accept a position with the University of South Florida.
After just 90 minutes into her first day on campus, Dr. Woolever spent a half hour sitting down for an interview regarding her new position.
So who is Dr. Woolever? She joins Penn State Brandywine from Arizona, where she acted as President of Prescott College. Before that, she had high leadership roles in multiple colleges and universities in New Hampshire, Washington and elsewhere. However, she grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“It feels as if I’ve come home,” Woolever said.
When asked why she chose this campus for her next career move, her answer was easy.
“It’s Penn State for heaven’s sake!” Woolever said.
While Dr. Woolever is excited to join the “We Are!” family, she also commented that she likes the fact that Brandywine is “small but not too small,” and that the campus “has the potential to really fly.”
It’s without a doubt that a campus like Brandywine needs strong leadership to help it grow. Dr. Woolever is excited about new challenges.
“Uniting folks here in a common purpose, building a team, and moving the campus to its fullest potential,” she said are her goals.
What direction is Brandywine headed? When asked about a 5-year plan, Dr. Woolever said that she hopes to grow the enrollment to 2,000 students. She is also eager for campus housing at Brandywine.
Perhaps just as exciting for the students will be the addition of the Student Union Building that Dr. Woolever plans on adding to the campus. This building, similar to commons, will be a larger scale version containing a new cafeteria, a game room and probably most exciting to the students who participate in the larger clubs and organizations on campus such as THON and Student Government Association (SGA), a lot more large-sized meeting rooms for students to use.
“I want this to be a campus we are really proud of,” Dr. Woolever said.
Further commenting, she said she also wants to attend a lot of the sporting events to further that pride. Dr. Woolever seems to have the right track mind for Brandywine.
“I really look forward to making this not just a 8:30-6 p.m. campus,” she said. “I want people to be here 24/7, and participate in things and make this a home for people.”
For the vast majority of students who usually don’t know who our campus Chancellor is, you should expect that to change.
“I intend to walk around and eat in the cafeteria as much as I possibly can,” she said. “I want to meet at least once a month with the SGA. I’m going to force the students to know who I am.”
Dr. Woolever was eager to state her enthusiasm of joining the Brandywine family and she’s focused on teamwork. She’s already hard at work.
Rosemarie Owoc
Lion’s Eye Staff Writer