1990-2010
As the 1990s began, Wayne State College fall enrollment was increasing dramatically, with more than 600 new freshmen registered as compared to 497 in 1988, creating a trend that would bring a new revitalization to the fatigued community. By 1994, enrollment stood at 4,000, up 35 percent from 1988.
In 1995-96, the college marked its eighth straight year of increased enrollment with a head count up 1.5 percent from the fall of 1994. And the 1995-96 school year also saw the largest graduating class ever from Wayne State College: 418 degree candidates.
With positive population and commercial growth, the state was more economically solvent. In 1994, the Nebraska Legislature approved $4 million in funding for construction of the college’s new business building. This would become a key part of the college’s Physical Campus Master Plan. The ambitious master plan called for construction and renovation of many key areas of campus to include: completion of a $3.6 million utilities infrastructure renovation, completion of the $4 million academic business administration building, a multi-phase $1 million renovation and enhancement of the outdoor recreation sports complex, completion of a $5.2 million renovation and expansion of the Student Center, the construction of Heritage Plaza, renovation of the former power plant into the Studio Arts Teaching Facility, an additional 600 parking spaces, and a complete renovation of Connell Hall.
First national fundraising campaign
In January of 1989, the Wayne State College Foundation decided to conduct the college’s first national fundraising campaign. The faculty and staff portion of the “Building Bright Futures” Campaign was launched in December of 1991. Just two years and five months later, October 1994, the Foundation hosted a Victory Celebration dinner during Homecoming weekend. The campaign had raised more than $13.5 million in deferred and cash gifts and pledges. Daniel W. and Jeanne M. Gardner of Wakefield, Neb., chaired the campaign. The Gardners also made the campaign’s leadership gift of $1.5 million. In addition, the Foundation’s annual cash gifts exceeded $1 million for the first time in its 30-year history, and total assets exceeded $2 million for the first time.
Education partnerships
The Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP), offered in cooperation with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was introduced to provide Wayne State students with access to medical school and eventually a rural health care practice. Wayne State also expanded its Master of Business Administration (MBA) program to meet the needs of working professionals in northeast Nebraska (where courses were offered on campus) and in Norfolk, South Sioux City, and Columbus (on extended campuses for those who were unable to attend main campus classes).
The college was nationally recognized when it received the coveted Seven Seals Award for its responsiveness to the needs of students who had served in Operation Desert Storm. The award was presented by the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve and demonstrated Wayne State’s commitment to the veterans it served.
A new century
In the fall of 1998, after a decade of invigorating leadership in which he helped to transform not only the Wayne State College campus, but the city of Wayne and Northeast Nebraska as well, Mash became chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. Arriving at Wayne State in a period of turmoil, he left the college in a strong, positive situation. The image of Wayne State was sound, the campus had continued to expand with new construction and a stable enrollment, and things looked great as the college sought out a new president.
Dr. Sheila Stearns becomes first female President
Dr. Shelia Stearns was selected from a group of 49 applicants to fill the presidency. Stearns became Wayne State College’s 10th president and the first woman to lead the institution. She left Western Montana College, where she was chancellor, a position she had held since 1993. By virtue of the affiliation with the University of Montana, she also served as executive vice president of the University of Montana branch campuses at Missoula, Butte, and Helena. She had previously been vice president of university relations at the University of Montana-Missoula, where she earned her undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees.
Stearns was emphatic about her intentions in her inaugural address: “Every decision I make, every dollar I spend, every evaluation I write, every goal in my professional life will be tied to achieving student success and academic quality.”
Stearns’ vision for the college was based upon her belief that everyone in society benefits from college-educated, service-oriented citizens with rewarding careers: “The centerpiece of my vision for Wayne State College is a relentless focus on students, student learning, student life and student success.” She continued the long-standing tradition of teacher education being a hallmark of excellence for the school, and she fully supported the collaboration with the partner schools.
In 2003, Stearns accepted the position of commissioner of higher education for the Montana University System. Knowing that her extensive experience in Montana would help her be highly effective, Stearns was excited to move back to Montana where she had family and had spent so much of her life. Stearns helped Wayne State accomplish great things during her four-year tenure. She led the school in new initiatives and through challenging budgetary times, and brought the school to a new level of local, regional, and national recognition.
Dr. Richard Collings named President
The board appointed Dr. Richard Collings to be the 11th president of Wayne State College in 2004. The Louisville, Ky., native said that he felt right at home when he and his wife, Marilyn, were on campus.
“I was the first person in my family to get a bachelor’s degree, let alone two graduate degrees, so I can relate to the students at Wayne State, many of whom are first-generation college students, as well,” he said.
Collings emphasized the college’s first priority of student learning. And the necessity of an environment conducive to teaching and learning, with programming that is appealing to students. His second priority was to connect with place-bound adults in the community for undergraduate and graduate program needs. Hand in hand with this is the economic outreach that Wayne State can and must provide. The school must stimulate the local economy and “welcome the community – both adults and students – to come to our events and programs on campus,” Collings said.
Mr. Curt Frye Assumes Presidency
Curt Frye, former vice president and dean of students at Wayne State, was named the 12th president on June 2, 2011, by the Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees. Frye had retired from Wayne State on June 30, 2009, but returned to serve as interim president upon the 2010 resignation of former President Richard Collings. Frye began working at Wayne State in 1985, serving as associate dean of students and dean of students, and in 1993 was named vice president and dean of students. Frye served as interim president from 2003 to 2004 after the resignation of Stearns.
Prior to coming to Wayne State, Frye was a teacher and coach at Cody-Kilgore and a guidance counselor in Neligh and Wayne. A native of Elk City, Frye holds a Bachelor of Science in education from Midland Lutheran College in Fremont and a master of science in education from Chadron State College.
During his inauguration, Frye charged the college’s faculty, staff, students and alumni to better train future leaders to return and make a difference in their communities; make every effort to attract and retain the best faculty and staff; better serve students and Northeast Nebraska; better engage faculty and staff in the learning process; and better plan for the future of the college’s facilities to match the ever-changing needs of tomorrow’s students.
Frye’s charge to the college exemplified the continued determination on the part of the college to continually push to improve, even transform, Wayne State. The evidence of this commitment can be seen all over campus in renovated facilities and in the steady growth of the size and prestige of academic programs.