by Samantha Bryant, Assistant Editor
Academic Vice President Dr. Cal White announced in a faculty meeting on Jan. 26 that he will be leaving Bryan at the end of May.
President Dr. Stephen Livesay said White will be missed.
“Much has been accomplished under Dr. White’s leadership and I am grateful for his time, effort, and vision in making Bryan what it is today,” Livesay said.
White said he decided to leave because he felt God was telling him it was time to move on from Bryan and pursue other opportunities.
“The decision to leave was completely self-motivated,” he said. “It came from my own sense of direction and from the Lord.”
He said he is excited about the growth of the college and what a new academic vice president will bring to Bryan.
“I feel like the college is at a place where it needs some new inspiration and a leader in this area with a different set of skills to offer,” he said.
White said he does not know what the next step in his life will be after he leaves Bryan, which he will do sometime after the May 9 graduation date.
“I’m starting the process of looking at different opportunities,” he said.
Before coming to Bryan, White worked at Northwest University (Seattle, Wash.) for 24 years. He taught music classes for the first 13 of those years, and then he worked as an administrator. He then worked at Sterling College (Sterling, Kan.), where he was the vice president of enrollment management. After this, he and his wife moved to Ooltewah, Tenn., when he started working at Bryan in July of 2002.
White said his experience as a teacher at Northwest helps him identify with the professors and understand their joys and challenges. He sits in on and evaluates various classes at Bryan as part of his duties as the vice president of academics. Some of the other tasks he performs include overseeing the various academic divisions of the college, planning Convocation and Commencement, hiring and mentoring faculty members, and allocating the budget for all aspects of academics.
White said what he will miss the most about Bryan is all the people he has met and built relationships with here. Since he came to the college, he participated in the hiring of over a third of the full-time faculty that currently makes up the college.
Around 500 traditional students and 40 Aspire students walked the halls of Bryan when White first came to Bryan. Now the number of total matriculates reaches over 1,100, which includes a 50-percent increase in traditional enrollment.
“I attribute the growth to Dr. Livesay’s vision and all the new programs he has implemented,” White said.
Livesay said the college grew considerably under White’s tenure.
“Under his leadership, the College has received outstanding marks in its decennial review by our regional accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), as well as authorization for our first graduate program, the MBA,” he said.
Livesay said the process for hiring a new academic vice president has already begun.
“We have already received dozens of applications for this position that I consider to be one of the most vital positions on campus,” he said.
He said he hopes to choose and have someone ready to fill the position by the summer.