Dr. Webb inaugurated as the University of Pikeville’s 21st president
0Written By Cory Fields
On Friday, Oct. 14 the new UPIKE president was formally installed and introduced to the university though his inauguration speech. Dr. Burton J. Webb is the 21st president of the University, and the First Lady is his wife, Dr. Kay Webb. Burton Webb has a master’s degree in biology and a Ph. D. in microbiology and immunology. His wife has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. In his speech, Webb related college to his home state, Michigan and how it is like when someone gets stuck on the side of the road due to snow. He described a student taking a class who doesn’t know how to study or use notes, but loves working with people. Because of this, she chose to study nursing, but she is starting to doubt whether she can complete her major. Just as someone stuck in a snow bank has three options, so, too, does this student. Option 1 is to sit there and do nothing waiting for something to happen, just like someone stranded in a snow bank. Option 2 is to continue trying while not making progress similar to rocking back and forth in the car trying to get traction; it may work, but it usually doesn’t. Option 3 is to ask others for help. That student can learn about how the institution can help, what resources are available for students, and where can she be tutored. Webb then described a future at UPIKE in which the courses are designed in a way that each course builds on the next one, even in different subjects. He described “living-learning communities” where students with the same or similar majors could live closely together so they can help one another with problems and studying. The university must act quickly, according to Webb, before our intelligent students leave the region, fleeing the failing economy of coal. In the continued analogy, Webb said, “It is beginning to snow outside the walls of UPIKE [for our students],” but he will lead the institution though the blizzard. “I like driving in the snow,” he said. To succeed, Webb said UPIKE must build a unified staff and student structure, the curriculum needs be flexible and responsive to change, and while there have been major investments into the medical and optometry schools, now it is time to turn to the undergraduates. Without students, the university will fail. “Students are our present and our future,” Webb stated.