Dear Thundering Chickens, Colleagues and Friends of West Virginia Northern Community College:

As I approach seven years of service as your president – and after serving more than four decades in higher education and workforce development leadership, the time has come for me to pass the baton to a new generation of leadership and begin a new chapter in my life.  I have informed the Board of Governors that this fiscal year will be my last serving as your president.  I am sharing this news now to provide ample time to conduct a national search for my successor and to ensure a smooth leadership transition for the start of the Fall 2026 semester.

Serving and leading Northern has been the greatest privilege and highest honor of my professional career.  When I first arrived at Northern in September 2019, I encountered an incredible community, amazing students, faculty and staff, and a collective desire to elevate our college.  While I leave it to others to put my tenure into perspective, I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished together.  For example, we developed many new and expanded existing programs driving four consecutive years of double-digit enrollment growth, reversing a persistent twelve-year enrollment slide.  Last year, we hit our highest enrollment since 2008 – doubling Northern’s annual headcount.  We safely navigated the COVID pandemic; completed an exceptional HLC accreditation review in 2022 with zero findings; strengthened partnerships with K-12 schools and universities; expanded Early Entrance and dual credit pathway programs; collaboratively developed two strategic plans and most of our KPIs are now pointing in the right direction.  We invested millions of dollars updating our facilities and expanded fundraising efforts of the College and WVNCC Foundation, raising over $15 million to support our students and programs alike.

During this Spring term, the college will conduct a national search, led by our Board, to identify Northern’s ninth president.  I will continue to work on behalf of the College and our community each and every day until sometime this Summer when our new president arrives and gets situated.

It’s been an amazing and rewarding journey having worked with many talented and cherished colleagues in service to many thousands of students over the years.  I hope that my service here has positioned WVNCC for continued growth and success serving the many residents of the Ohio Valley who rely on Northern to help them get ahead.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my journey.  What a remarkable ride it has been!

With Gratitude,

Daniel P. Mosser, Ph.D.

President