NSU Officials Announce Vice President’s Resignation

NSU Officials Announce Vice Presidents Resignation

TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State University officials have announced that Dr. Neal Weaver, Vice President for University Relations, resigned effective Feb. 29. After coming to NSU in 1998 as the Director of Public Relations, Weaver served as the Director of Institutional Advancement and Assistant to the President before being named Vice President in 2005.

My ten years at Northeastern have been very exciting for me personally and professionally, said Weaver. I came here to work with President Williams and help him achieve the goals he had for NSU, so with the changes that will be taking place here over the next year, I felt this was the right time for me and my family to move on and find some new challenges and opportunities. NSU and Tahlequah have been wonderful for me and Kristi and our boys, and we will always have great memories of our time here.

During his time at NSU, Weaver designed and implemented marketing and recruiting efforts that led to enrollment growth of more than 17 percent, setting campus records in headcount enrollment, credit hour production and first-time entering freshman during the 2004-2005 academic year. He was instrumental in the development of the NSU-Broken Arrow campus, serving in leadership roles in all three elections that provided the resources for the new campus. In addition, he served on the Broken Arrow Transition Task Force and designed a marketing program that helped the new campus grow from 800 students to over 3,000.

The creation and development of Broken Arrow was a very exciting opportunity to build a campus that meets the needs of both our students and the Broken Arrow community, said Weaver.

As Vice President, Weaver also led the universitys alumni and fund raising efforts. Under his leadership, the number of donors to the NSU Foundation more than doubled and Foundation assets grew more than 33 percent to over $12 million. In addition, the alumni database grew from 19,000 to 56,000 and Alumni Association membership increased by more than 237 percent.

The donors and alumni of NSU have such a powerful connection to this university and I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with them and get to know so many wonderful people, said Weaver. Helping people connect back to the university and provide educational opportunities for another generation of students is very rewarding. When you have the opportunity to see people get excited about how their gifts can impact a students life, you know that your work is special.

While at NSU, Weaver was involved in five different elections in three separate communities that resulted in an investment of nearly $50 million in NSU campuses and he also led the University committee that selected and developed the new RiverHawk mascot and nickname.

Today, regional universities must think beyond the traditional scope of educational institutions and be attentive to the universitys connection to its community, and to the economic development of its state, said Weaver. Regional universities must be creative and aggressive if they hope to maintain their relevance. I think we were able to do that at NSU while remaining true to the unique environment of our higher education institutions which allows us to openly and freely address the social issues of our time.

2/29/2008

Published: 2008-02-29 00:00:00