The spouses of nine other college and university presidents will be on the West Virginia University campus this week (May 1-3), along with their special events coordinators, to get better acquainted, exchange best practices and to plan the spouses sessions for the National Association of State University and Land-Grant Colleges(NASULGC) annual conference in Washington, D.C., Nov. 11-13.


Susan Hardesty, wife of WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr., will host the meeting. She recently assumed the chairmanship of the NASULGC Council of Presidentsand ChancellorsSpouses.


NASULGC , the nations oldest higher education association, is WVU s primary affinity group. The groups 213 member schools are public research universities, land-grant institutions and state university systems. Campuses are located in all 50 states, the U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.


“We are thrilled to be welcoming representatives from Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Wyoming, New York, North Dakota, New Mexico, Louisiana and Kansas to our campus,”Mrs. Hardesty said.”Many of these individuals have never been to West Virginia, let alone Morgantown, so we want to give them a campus tour, especially of our new facilities like the Student Rec Center, and give them a ride on our unique transportation system, the PRT .


“But our real business will be to exchange best practices, establish better lines of communication and to plan an innovative and stimulating conference for the college and university presidents across the country and their spouses. We want to deliver programming that is consistent with the mission of NASULGC which is supporting excellence in teaching, research and public service.”


Special events planners will meet separately to exchange best practices and open lines of communication, she added.


In the past, NASULGC spouses have sponsored programs related to crisis management, hate crimes and media relations, she noted.


Approximately 150 presidents and their spouses attend the annual meeting hosted by the committee Mrs. Hardesty chairs.


Mrs. Hardesty also leads the Mountaineer Parents Club, which she and her husband founded in 1995 to give families an effective means to support student success. The Club’s dramatic growthclose to 70 chapters with about 8,000 membersis a testament to her leadership and innovative spirit.