On February 20, Interim President Kathleen Nelson announced that the GSC Presidential Search Committee had decided on their three finalists. Since that time, many things have changed. What follows is the series of events in chronological order.

As of February, out of the 35 applicants nationwide, only three were originally invited to campus at the end of March for “interviews and interactions with members of the GSC community and neighbors and friends.” In no particular order, the three finalists were as follows:

• Dr. Bruce Barnhart received his Doctor of Education in Professional Physical Education from West Virginia University. He later returned to the school of his undergraduate studies, California University of Pennsylvania, where he became the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. During his appointment, he was charged with leading a task force, along with the college’s athletic director, to review the football team’s image after six football players left a man with severe brain trauma. It was soon uncovered that 26 members of the football team had prior problems with the law.¹ During his career at the California University of Pennsylvania. he was also sued by a faculty member for failing to promote her to a full-time professor four times because of “age, race and gender discrimination.” She had worked for the college for 14 years prior. The suit ended in a “Joint Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice and was DISMISSED with prejudice, with each party to bear its own costs, expenses, and attorney's fees.”²

 

• Dr. Kellie Bean was once an Associate Dean and Professor of English at Marshall University. Currently, she is serving as the Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs at Hartwick College following a successful appointment as Dean of Academic Affairs there. Her undergraduate and doctorate degrees are in English. A published writer, her work Post-Backlash Feminism: Women and the Media Since Reagan/Bush is about how “so-called 'prefix feminisms' have weakened the feminist movement by narrowing its focus into shallow interpretations of a broad social and political cause.” Her passion may worry some board and community members. Jason Gum, selected by nomination and the vote of the entire staff to serve as Staff Representative on the Board of Governors, comments “No one’s going to be everything for everyone. We each have our own biases.”³

 

• Dr. Daniel Barwick holds a Doctorate, Masters, and Baccalaureate degree in Philosophy. Having a “keen interest in fund-raising,” he was a “certified executive.” The announcement of his candidacy was soon the focus of debate. One faculty member went as far as to say he was “deeply troubled by the inclusion of Dr. Daniel Barwick as a presidential finalist” and attached an article providing a “damning critique of his leadership and experience in higher education” in an email to fellow faculty members and President Nelson. She responded by reminding them that they were “not informed about the committee’s deliberations,” and asked that if he had any further questions regarding the committee’s work, he handles them “in an appropriate and professional manner.” The attached article, written in 2018 an published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, revealed Dr. Barwick’s main concerns were sports and publicity at his previous position as President of Independence Community College. You may have witnessed Dr. Barwick on the Netflix documentary Last Chance U. For only $30,000 per season, Netflix was given full access to staff, students, and facilities. The show’s creator wanted “free rein to shoot intimate moments, which he got.”⁴ “Barwick had garnered a reputation in some circles as vindictive.” He received a vote of no confidence from professors because of financial decline and “lack of long-term planning and appropriate record keeping” reported from the Higher Learner Commission. This decision was soon “walked back” for unknown reasons. However, this did not solve the divide between professors’ and the President. The article quotes, “in the past year alone, about a quarter of the college’s full-time instructors have cut ties with the college.” This includes Brenda Sanchez, who was let go by Dr. Barwick based on complaints on her grading policy and demeanor toward African-American students. The complaints initially arose from the athletic department, whose students were told that academics were “a game. If they attended, stayed off their phones, sit in the front, and turn in their homework, they would get a C.”⁴

Dr. Kevin Evans, who took over for Dr. Larry Baker as faculty representative to the Board of Governors last spring in a vote by the faculty, told The Phoenix that he was aware of Dr. Barwick’s vote of no confidence and offered, “We just went through a no confidence vote, so that does concern me. That doesn’t mean that he is eliminated completely in my mind, but it is definitely an area of concern.”

On March 3, an emergency Board of Governors meeting was held. One finalist had withdrawn, later revealed as Dr. Barwick. Board of Governors Chair Greg Smith noted that he “forgot to ask [a fellow member] yesterday” to “have [them] bring a bottle of Bourbon” to ease the mood for the meeting. There was a full Board in attendance with two members joining the discussion from remote locations. Before dismissing the public and opening the Board to executive session, Smith mentioned that, for the Board, “ what we’ve got trust in is the process and that we end up with the best candidate based on merit that will move Glenville State College forward.” Despite this, the Board voted to include all semi-finalists in the final running. This extended candidacy to three more individuals. Smith noted that this decision will allow for a “lot better pool to choose from” and provides a “window to work in.” Again in no particular order, those additional finalists are as follows:

• Dr. Herbert Riedel is fluent is knowledgeable in six languages and has had 20 years of administrative experience. Doing everything from teaching Japanese martial arts of Aikido over a period of twelve years to being a Director of the Nanoscience Technology Center at UCF, Dr. Riedel is a jack-of-many-trades. He established the Andalusia Chamber of Music Society and established Honors Programs at two community colleges. He retired as President of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in 2019.

 

• Dr. Richard Pagan is from Daniel, West Virginia. He has retired from the Air Force and was a past Professor and Program Coordinator at Fairmont in 1997. Having experience and being certified in grant writing, from 2016-2019 he received over $1.5 million from the WV Chancellor Grants. He is self-proclaimed “technology savvy,” a flaw Provost Dr. Morris has admitted to previously. He can also speak, write, and read Spanish.

 

• Dr. Mark Anthony Manchin prides himself in being “motivated to learn, grown and excel as the President of Glenville State College.” All of his education has taken place in West Virginia and he has certifications in Superintendent, Principle K-12, General Supervisor, and Vocational Administration. He has had hands on experience with education and 40+ years of experience in education administration. His past positions have included classroom teacher, BOG member, adjunct professor, and superintendent. He was the Executive Director of the School Building Authority of WV.

The final decision will go to the Board of Governors. Dr. Evans stated, “Friday, after the [last] candidate, we will have dinner and after dinner, we will be making the decision then. The announcement will not come out that quickly.” Replying to concern that dinner may persuade the Board to take reviewing feedback from open forums, committees, and other constituencies less seriously, Dr. Evans said, “If I miss part of the dinner, I miss part of the dinner; I’ll be reviewing, spending my time talking to the faculty (because that’s the constituent group I represent). I’ll be trying to get as much information as possible, but I will admit with the vote on Friday evening, it does make it more difficult for the third candidate.” As for his fellow Board members, Dr. Evans commented, “we understand that this is a very important decision. It’s the most important decision a Board can make.” Gum stated that he “firmly believes every single individual of the Board is doing the best they can and have the best mindset. They all care about this school.”

     Dr. Evans and Jason Gum both explained that they have had positive interactions with the Board since their appointments but admitted that other members were serving on expired terms. When confronted about his expired term, Smith explained that the term did expired “but you stay on the Board continually until replaced by the Governor.” Dr. Evans went further to include that “all Board of Governors placements are placed by the Governor, confirmed by Legislators in Charleston” and that while Smith “is on expired terms. He has stated that he plans on resigning from the Board this year.” In Gum’s opinion, he believes the Governor only replaced four of the nine Board members (non-elected), as to promote “consistency in leadership.” Smith likewise stated this was to promote “continuity until the new President is selected.” In Dr. Evan’s opinion, serving on expired terms may have positive or negative results. It depends on the individual person. I think by policy, the intent is that the lay members (members appointed by the Governor; there are also three institutional representatives with the same power and voting rights), that include Greg Smith currently, is that they can do two four-year terms but we also know that those lay appointments require the Governor’s decision. I would like to see us follow two four-year terms and get replacements. Whether it’s a problem or not, it’s going to vary from situation to situation.”

     Gum said, “Dr. Nelson has developed committees within the Board, individual committees that are going to oversee term limits and things, paying attention to those sort of things, and also try to see who we nominate, the Board nominates, the school as a whole for the future Board members.” In his opinion, “We have benefitted greatly from the guidance of President Nelson.”

     Dr. Nelson sent an email to her colleagues encouraging them to attend the open forums for each candidate in the President’s auditorium. Students are also invited to attend. The following is a schedule of the Open Forums for each candidate:

03-25 Dr. Riedel from 8-9 a.m.

03-25 Dr. Pagan from 3-4 p.m.

03-26 Dr. Bean 8-9 a.m.

03-26 Dr. Manchin 3-4 p.m.

03-27 Dr. Barnhart 8-9 a.m.

            Currently, the schedule has not been changed in spite of students being off-campus during the scheduled Open Forums due to the Coronavirus.

Editor's note: All interviews of the presidential candidates have been postponed because of Coronavirus precautions. See the new schedule at https://www.glenville.edu/phoenix/update-presidential-finalists

1. Information retrieved from WPXI New's article 26 Cal U Football Players Have Been in Trouble with the Law. For more information, please visit https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/27-cal-u-football-players-have-been-trouble law/140055764/#continue_below. 

2. Information retrieved from PacerMonitor "PERRY-BURNEY v. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANNIA et al." For more information, please visit https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/9959187/PERRYBURNEY_v_CALIFORNIA_UNIVERSITY_OF_PENNSYLVANIA_et_al.

3. Information retrieved from Amazon. 

4. Information retrieved in faculty email chain; article by Chronicle of Higher Education's One College Used Football to Win Fame. But What Has It Lost?