FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 17, 2016

For More Information:
Glenville State College
Public Relations Department
(304) 462-6394

GLENVILLE, WV - Glenville State College President Dr. Peter Barr has announced that he will retire from the institution in June 2017. Barr will continue his service to GSC through the 2016-17 academic year.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning at the annual Fall Opening Meeting of Faculty and Staff.

“After extended and heartfelt discussion, Betsy and I have determined that our season at Glenville State College will end with the current school year. The past eleven years have been exceptional and could not have happened anywhere else. We have enjoyed the gracious hospitality, expansive tolerance, and generous friendship of the faculty, staff, students, and community at large. Nowhere else could we have learned so much, dreamed so much, and valued so much. Our years here have been an astonishing adventure,” Barr said at the meeting.

Glenville State College President Dr. Peter Barr in his office on campus

Dr. Barr was selected as GSC’s twenty-third president in 2006. From the outset of his tenure at Glenville State College, he was focused on increasing enrollment, improving student retention, coordinating a capital campaign with the GSC Foundation, and boosting economic development in the area.

His time at Glenville State College has seen efforts to boost enrollment even in the face of decreasing college-going rates nationwide and in West Virginia, the implementation of programs across campus to help students stay engaged, marked increases in private donations, and outreach into the community.

One of the crowning achievements of Barr’s presidency has been the implementation of the Hidden Promise Consortium, a program that seeks to increase high school and college graduation rates, better prepare students for college enrollment, encourage increased college attendance, and improve overall success in pursuits of higher education. The Consortium had humble beginnings – 13 central West Virginia counties – but is now accessible to students in all 55 counties. The program has over 2,000 participants throughout the Mountain State in grades 8-12 and approximately 200 current GSC students.

Barr holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Marshall and a Doctor of Business Administration from Louisiana Tech University. He is a Huntington, West Virginia native and called North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina home before coming to Glenville State College.

He plans to stay as busy as ever in his final year. In addition to his day-to-day job at the helm of the College, Barr will be teaching two classes through the GSC Department of Business.

The Glenville State College Board of Governors will appoint a committee to spearhead a national search for a new leader of the college. The search is expected to get underway soon.