Diversity within the Western Carolina University workforce has been inching up, with the latest report showing that the last year’s worth of staffing changes held steady the proportion of racial and ethnic minorities on the university’s payroll while strengthening the existing majority of female WCU employees and resulting in a sharp increase in the percentage of employees with a disability. 

For the third year running, freshman enrollment has increased at Western Carolina University, a metric that university leaders hope will signal an end to multiple years of falling enrollment in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

“Dad, this may be the greatest job of all-time.” 

A After years of enrollment and retention numbers impacted by the pandemic and its associated restrictions, Western Carolina University expects to see the rebound continue when students return to campus this fall.

Kaitlyn Nelson was three-and-a-half months into living her Australian dream when the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, forcing her and her partner to cut short their plans for a yearlong adventure driving their van around the Pacific continent. 

Amid a nationwide struggle to fill open positions in a multitude of sectors, higher education institutions in Western North Carolina say they’re not experiencing more vacancies than is typical as they navigate their most hiring-heavy season of the year. However, in some instances filling those vacancies is taking longer than in years past. 

College students around the nation adjust to a new normal amidst COVID-19.