Is President Trible Staying for Next Several Years or More?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Christopher Newport University
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Does anyone know the future plans of the current (outstanding) President of CNU? He makes the school very attractive, but I worry the school’s future is tied to his presence. He spoke to us and he really made things sounds attractive, but we’ve seen some seams unglued as well. We received recruiting information with typos and got some inaccurate information from recruiters on actual majors and minors. The fellow in charge of recruiting seemed pretty stand offish and actually brushed us aside during an open house. The professors who we interacted with seemed okay, but not elite. During a visit we saw the brand new dorms, but were not shown the older dorms by athletic fields. I’m more of a worrier than a cynic, and I admit that I am sensitive to perceived weaknesses so I may have gotten it wrong on the recruiting folks and the professors. But I got the feeling the school was modeling itself after Elon and Trible alone is driving them. I felt as if they will get there as long as Trible is around for the next 10 or so years. Students seems very happy and they rave about President Trible. So I wonder if his dedication is what differentiates the school from a place like ODU. I’m reticent to base any decisions on the students’ GPAs and SATs because it looks like the school’s stats are over-inflated by all the Northern Virginia over-achievers who attend. So I can see the school skyrocketing (Elon) or plummeting (ODU) depending on future leadership. Does anyone know if he’s make any public announcements recently on his plans?

-Driving Dad

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My son is a freshman at CNU. He lives in the freshman dorm that is the oldest dorm on campus, built in the early 1990’s. It’s just fine and has the same features as the newer ones - microwave/fridge unit, AC, same furniture, etc. my son loves that it is adjacent to the Commons dining hall.

President Trible has been at CNU since 1997, so he’s very committed to CNU and has definitely had a strong influence on the campus it is today. I have no reason to believe he plans to retire any time soon. He’s also surrounded himself with other strong leaders. I spent some time with the Provost and found him to be very passionate about learning. He hires the professors. The Dean of Students is also a very approachable person. The new Director of Alumni Relations is a friend of mine - very outgoing guy who will be building a more robust alumni network.

In the past other well known schools have had turmoil in the Presidents office (UVA and W&M come to mind) and they survived. CNU will certainly remain strong should Trible decide to retire, but again I have no reason to think that is happening anytime soon. Now 10 years from now, I would expect someone else will be at the helm of CNU, but I’m sure whoever that will be will be imminently qualified.

From a recent letter from President Trible - "I am happy to report that the class of 2019 is an outstanding group of young women and men. Our freshman class numbers 1,225 students – once again exceeding our annual goal of 1,200. Ninety-three percent of the class are Virginians, 7 percent are from out-of-state, and 21 percent are minority students.

With an average high school GPA of 3.8, this is the strongest class to ever enter CNU. The SAT middle percent range is 1080-1230 (out of 1600). The GPA middle 50 percent range is 3.5-4.0. That means 25 percent of the class has a high school GPA above 4.0 and an SAT above 1230.

Students in the President’s Leadership Program (PLP) constitute 33 percent of the freshman class – 400 students. On average, incoming PLP students have a 4.0 high school GPA and an SAT score of 1220.

One hundred and twenty-six students will participate in our Honors Program; 76 of those students will participate in both leadership and honors – 50 in honors alone. These students, on average, earned a high school GPA of 4.1 and an SAT of nearly 1300.

Remarkably, 450 freshmen – that’s 37 percent of our first-year class – will participate in the President’s Leadership Program and/or the Honors Program."

I think more than just students from northern Virginia play into these numbers. My son had a 3.7 GPA and a 1290 SAT. We are not from NOVA.

I can’t speak to the recruiter you were working with, however all the administration and admissions people I have met were very engaging.

I hope this helps.