Bluefield University does their part by moving forward

Sep. 24—BLUEFIELD, Va. — Bluefield University (BU) is now in its 101st year serving its students and the community of Bluefield, and as the times change, the school adapts with it.

Bluefield was founded in 1922, and it was originally supposed to be a men's college, but according to BU's vice president for institutional advancement, Josh Cline, it was quickly realized that the college was for everyone.

Men and women were enrolled the first year of operation.

"As we closed out on the last century and as we go into the new century, it's kind of a new focus for us," said Cline.

In order to progress some programs they offer and to keep advancing their new nursing programs, BU has just consorted in with a couple schools through the Harvey Peters Research Foundation.

Those schools they have joined with include Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Appalachian College of Pharmacy.

Though BU is changing and advancing, Cline said that their mission for students has stayed the same.

"For us, looking into the future and this new century, our vision or mission is serving students," said Cline. "It's the same as it's always been because that's what we were built to do."

He adds that Bluefield University, then College, was founded for the students, and more specifically Appalachian natives.

"We were founded for Appalachia, thats was the decree from the Baptist General Association of Virginia," said Cline. "We are here serving the people of this region, it's our biggest student base, and Bluefield is also one of our biggest alumni bases."

Cline said he feels that seeing that Bluefield residents make up a majority of alumni is something that makes BU good not only for Bluefield but for Appalachia because it is helping to stop exit migration.

"People are graduating and staying in the area working, and we have some great alumni success stories that are staying and leading in our community," he said. "We do things to not only bring students to the area, but we also bring culture to the area and try to expose folks to what's good about life here."

Cline goes onto say that the parts that make it possible for them to serve their students in the best ways possible are also the things that make BU great all around.

"What makes life great at Bluefield is what has made Bluefield great from the beginning; it's the personal connection that you have with the staff members, faculty members, and coaches. Being in a small class size or learning environment really gives Bluefield that ability to build those personal connections," Cline explained.

He added, "That personal connection and that small campus environment gives our students a space that is where it's okay to learn by doing, not just learn through textbooks. You can have internship opportunities, you can go on a mission trip and put your faith in action, you can participate on a team and learn how to work in a group environment, you can do all of those things, and I that's important because as students enter the work force today, people want to know that they are ready to go from day one."

Cline also mentions the Academic Center for Excellence or ACE, which is a service BU offers that gives tutoring and academic help when they need it, is a service that benefits all students because any student is allowed to use it as it is offered to not only traditional undergraduate students, but also online students and master's program students can also utilize the services offered there.

As mentioned before, BU is really embracing the future by trying to prepare their students in any way they can according to Cline.

He said, "I think the thing that is really unique about Bluefield is that we've embraced technology fully."

Last school year, BU introduced their iPad initiative which Cline said they felt has really given Bluefield students so much more convenience and opportunity for learning.

With these iPads, textbooks are pre-downloaded, and it gives certainty that every student has the ability to access their classwork and information from anywhere since some students are not able to provide laptops for themselves.

"We found that these types of initiatives have a really propelled us and are items that we have to ensure that learning starts from the ground up," said Cline. "With the iPads also, we are able to give students experience working with Apple and Mac products along with Windows since we use the Microsoft Office platform for basic uses of email, Word, and Excel."

He added, "You get the best of both worlds because you get to learn on a Mac product, but you're also utilizing Microsoft products. You're going to be prepared wherever you enter the work force."

Bluefield is changing in many ways including their majors and what programs they offer.

In the past, their most popular majors have been business and exercise and sport science, but now as additions to majors and advancements in programs are made, BU's nursing and pre-med programs have grown significantly.

"Our College of Nursing has actually been our biggest growth in recent years with our master's program,but also the RN to BSN programs," Cline said. "Now, the undergraduate degree is here for the students too."

Cline feels that these programs have been great for attracting more students which in turn help the community of Bluefield.

"There is a saying that Dr. Olive has used since he arrived about Bluefield which is 'A strong college makes a strong community and a strong community makes a strong college,' so it's a two-way street a reciprocal relationship between us and the community," said Cline.

Cline said on BU's end, they try to do as much as they can for the community and that they do many things do better Bluefield.

"We have lots of economic impact to the community every year," said Cline. "We bring an estimated $20 million of economic impact to the community every year, so you see that through sales tax at local establishments, restaurants, vendors like Walmart, and other groups like that but also in construction."

With several projects in the last couple of years, BU has been using local construction and contractors in order to complete these projects, and some of those projects include the third floor of the Science Center on campus that was completed around four years ago and they are now renovating the entry-way to campus.

Along with the economic income BU brings to Bluefield, Cline said they also do a lot of community outreach.

"We offer a lot of great community programming through our fine arts community, our cafeteria is open to the public Monday through Friday, and our faculty, staff, and athletes do lots of volunteer work," said Cline.

He added, "We are a part of the community, so we're brining in folk that are good people that want to be engaged with the community."

Cline also said that while Bluefield is where they are located, they do not limit their support to just the Bluefield area, they also extend to Tazewell, Bland, McDowell, and Mercer counties for outreach.

Cline said they feel BU is a staple part of the Bluefield community, and they hope that they can continue doing their part to better the area.

— Contact Kassidy Brown at kbrown@bdtonline.com.