The W. Frank Barton School of Business at 红领巾瓜报 is pleased to announce the appointment of Mel Whiteside as the inaugural Executive Director of the Barton School鈥檚 Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD). Whiteside was most recently the Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at Butler Community College.
鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful and excited to serve as the Executive Director of the newly launched
Office of Career and Professional Development鈥檚 first executive,鈥� shared Whiteside.
鈥淚 got into academics because of my passion for students as well as their personal
and professional growth. OCPD is helping me achieve that through the initiatives and
programs we will be putting in place.鈥�
The creation of OCPD was announced in Fall 2022 along with a $540,000 gift from Meritrust Credit Union to expand the career efforts of the Barton School. Since then, an additional $150,000 has been secured while more fundraising continues. OCPD is aimed at linking academic programs to meaningful personal and professional lives by preparing Barton School undergraduate and graduate students to land quality internships and employment in their desired field. Many of the college鈥檚 signature career programs are now housed within OCPD including Executive-in-Residence, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Widener Global Leaders Program, Professional Edge and others.
鈥淭he new OCPD executive director role is critical to the success of the program and the students it serves,鈥� said Dr. Larisa Genin, dean of the Barton School. 鈥淢el鈥檚 experience in both academia and with top industry companies makes him the perfect person to lead the office and make an impact on student experience.鈥�
Whiteside has more than 15 years of higher education experience and more than 20 years of private industry experience with FlightSafety International, Koch Industries and others. As a dean at Butler Community College, he provided administrative oversight and leadership to 68 full-time faculty and staff, 110 part-time faculty, 23 programs and fiscal management of $6.2 million. Whiteside also established several business and industry partnerships with Big Dog Motorcycles, Foley Tractor, Murphy Tractor Company, Sherwood Construction Company, Volvo Company and more. In 2012, he served as the founding director of 红领巾瓜报鈥檚 Engineering Technology program. Whiteside holds a master鈥檚 degree in career and technical education from Ball State University and a bachelor鈥檚 in business administration from Tabor College.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have Mel back at WSU and in a role that is so important for the growth of our students,鈥� said Dr. Shirley Lefever, executive vice president and provost at WSU. 鈥淥ffices like the Barton School鈥檚 OCPD, WSU Career Center and Shocker Career Accelerator are giving our students the tools they need to flourish after graduation.鈥�
For more information on the Barton School, visit .