President David Olive Sets Goals for 2018-2019
Bluefield College president Dr. David Olive hopes to accomplish a number of goals in 2018-2019 to improve the academic, athletic, wellness, and residential offerings to BC students.
Among the president’s goals is continued progress on fundraising and planning for a new health and wellness complex on campus. According to the president, the college’s current facilities do not meet the recreation and wellness needs of the growing student body. Plans are to build a new health and wellness complex adjacent to the Dome Gymnasium to address that need. The wellness complex will provide much needed locker rooms and physical space for students, athletes, and community members to experience a wide variety of health, athletic and wellness activities.
The second phase of the health and wellness complex project will feature renovations to the interior and exterior of the Dome Gymnasium, including expanding the seating capacity and creating two practice court surfaces. Future phases of the project will consist of the construction of educational and laboratory space for the exercise and sport science program, which is one of the school’s largest majors, and the creation of new athletic offices, a new training room, and natatorium for additional wellness and recreation.
Similar to its need for more wellness and recreation facilities, Dr. Olive said the college wants to begin developing immediate, intermediate, and long-range plans for new athletic facilities. In fact, work has already begun this year on the development of two athletic fields across College Avenue on the south side of campus. The new fields will provide teams with additional practice space.
Dr. Olive said he also hopes 2018-2019 will produce a number of creative partnerships and approaches to higher education for the school. The college has already partnered with the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) in Blacksburg, VA, in the creation of a new Master of Arts in Biomedical Sciences (MABS) degree.
“Bluefield College is excited about this new master’s program and the collaborative effort with the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine,” Dr. Olive said. Classes for the MABS are being held on the VCOM campus in Blacksburg. The program is a 35-credit-hour face-to-face curriculum that emphasizes the biomedical sciences with a strong focus on human medicine and clinical applications. It also focuses on biomedical coursework, research experience, field study, and seminars in professional development.
Plans for another new residential facility are also in the works in 2018-2019. Those plans call for construction of a new dormitory where Alumni Hall and married student housing currently sits. The new structure will be double the size of East River Hall with a total of about 200 beds and more than 40,000 square feet. This building will be equipped with community bathrooms and common areas on each floor, as well as a kitchen on the first floor.
“The hall could be divided into guys and girls,” Dr. Olive said. “It could be divided by floor, so then each floor could be guys or girls.”
The new residence hall will also feature an access bridge that extends from the parking near Rish Hall across to the top floor of the new building. There will be additional parking below the new residence hall for students who reside there.
In addition, this year the president hopes to successfully close out the school’s 2014-2019 Strategic Plan and begin putting together a 2019-2024 Strategic Plan. BC staff members are already working on some of the preliminary ideas for the new Strategic Plan that will guide the college over the next five years.