Valerie T. West, EdD, Associate Provost for Education and Student Life, and Director of the Division of Education and Student Services has announced her intention to retire, as soon as a suitable replacement can be found.
Valerie has been considering retirement for several years and has stayed on at my urging to contribute to critical missions in the university. However, she now believes that it is time to move on to the next phase of her life and career. I would like to thank Valerie for her remarkable contributions to the university over her thirty-nine years of affiliation with MUSC, thirty-six of which she served as a faculty member. It would be impossible to catalogue all of Valerie’s numerous contributions to our institution, but I would like to highlight some of her more significant contributions.
In the College of Health Professions, Dr. West served as interim dean twice and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. She also served as Assistant Dean for Admissions and interim chair and/or chair of three different departments. She served as Director of the Division of Continuing Professional Education, the School of Evening Hours, and the Medical Records Administration Program.
At the university level, she has served with distinction as the Associate Provost for Education and Student Life and the Director of the Division of Education and Student Services, and previously as Interim Dean of Students. Dr. West has made many substantial contributions to the university, including her leadership in the Presidential Scholars Program, and her recent creation of the Student Leadership Academy. She has been a strong leader on diversity issues, recently bringing the National Coalition Building Institute to the MUSC campus. She consolidated the Offices of the Associate Provost for Education and the Dean for Student Life and formed the Division of Education and Student Services, thereby gaining increased efficiencies and cost savings. She reorganized the Office of Student Diversity and played a major role in the Creating Collaborative Care (C3) initiative that is a critical component of our ten-year SACS reaffirmation. She was a leader in the development of Interprofessional Day and spearheaded the creation of an internally funded scholarship pool that has provided nearly $1.7 million of support over the last five years through the Deans’ and Provost’s Scholarship mechanisms.
She was instrumental in creating videos celebrating the contributions of women leaders at MUSC. She supervised the renovations of Colcock Hall and the Education Student Center/Library. She also has served as a faculty member in the SCRIPT Program for a decade. Dr. West has been our most visible student advocate and supporter.
Her contributions to our institution and to the state have not gone unnoticed. Dr. West has been named an Outstanding Woman Leader by the YWCA, and Governor’s Distinguished Professor. She received the College of Health Professions Teacher of the Year Award, and, most recently, she was named as one of the recipients of the MUSC Foundation Distinguished Faculty Service Award, which was presented to her at the Faculty Convocation ceremony in August.
Dr. West has conducted herself with equanimity, poise, grace, good humor and total dedication to our students and to the institution throughout her career. She has been a superb teacher and committed mentor, a strong proponent of interprofessional education, and an eager and interactive participant in numerous committee duties. Her contributions and commitment to excellence, and her professionalism have been a source of strength and pride to this office and have benefited our institution enormously. We are fortunate that Dr. West has given so much of her time, energy and talents to our institution during her thirty-nine years at MUSC.
Please join with me in congratulating Dr. West for moving on to the next phase of her life and career, and in thanking her for her extraordinary contributions to MUSC. She has been an exemplary role model, leader and contributor in every sense of the word. JOHN R. RAYMOND, MD
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost |
