BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — West Virginia Wesleyan College President Dr. James Moore will stay in Buckhannon for the long run.
Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees voted last week to extend Moore’s contract through June 2032.
Moore has served as the school’s president since 2022 when he was named to the role with an interim tag and was made the full-time president in 2023. Moore, the music professor, came to Buckhannon in 2006 to teach and serve as the director of jazz ensembles.
Before being named president, Moore served for five years as the vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty.
Wesleyan has seen a 10% growth in enrollment since 2022, much of that success thanks to Moore. Since 2023, the school’s graduate programs have increased by 40% with the introduction of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, online MBA programs, and more. Wesleyan will also start its Bachelor of Science cybersecurity program in the fall.
“I would love nothing than more than for Wesleyan to be in a position to continue to produce graduates who are going to make West Virgnia stronger and Appalachia stronger,” Moore said on MetroNews Talkline. “Top of mind for me is that a small college like ours has a role to play in elevating our state and our region.”
Moore’s other top priority is preparing the Wesleyan graduates for the realities of an unpredictable post-graduate world.
“We’re pumping young people out into a very uncertain world, so our graduates are the measure of our success. If our graduates are successful and living lives of service 10 years down the road, then we’ve done our job,” Moore said.
Another strength of Moore’s has been his ability to engage and work with alumni and donors.
Moore says Wesleyan has always been about lifelong learning and that means reaching out a helping hand to former students.
“When our graduates leave our halls, we don’t want them to not think of us as their continued home for learning. If they have needs moving forward in their careers, we need to be serving those needs,” Moore said.
“It can’t be a transactional proposition where students leave in four years, we say ‘Good luck, let us know how you’re doing and maybe write us a check down the road’ because colleges need their alums to be supportive. We have to constantly be engaged with them and make sure that we’re continued to meet their learning needs,” he continued.
Story by Aaron Parker, MetroNews