CHARLOTTE — The lone surviving branch campus of Johnson & Wales University is working to return to prominence in Charlotte amid dwindling enrollment and the loss of its fourth president in seven years.
Former and present leaders — and certainly employers aiming to hire graduates in a hot job market — say the campus known for its culinary programs has opportunity to grow again. But the ground under higher education has shifted since the Charlotte campus opened two decades ago. And leadership based in Providence, Rhode Island, along with some longtime local lieutenants, are seeking a new formula to reenergize what was once a symbol of Charlotte’s emerging importance.
Of late, the headwinds for JWU have been gale force.
In 2021, JWU closed two branch campuses in North Miami, Florida, and Denver, Colorado. Those campuses were established before Charlotte but were deemed no longer financially self-sufficient.
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The public announcement of those closures came just 10 days after Cheryl Richards, the founding regional dean of Northeastern University’s Charlotte campus, started work as JWU’s fifth Charlotte president. A little more than a year later, Richards departed for a job leading Catapult, a statewide business training association.
JWU Charlotte has been without a leader for almost a year, bolstered instead by a cadre of senior managers. Mark Norman is the executive director of operations and has been with JWU since the campus opened in 2003. Chief Academic Officer David Jewell has 18 years of tenure, and Michael Childers, the chair of Arts & Sciences, has been there 16 years.
“We understand JWU, and it’s easy for us to lean in with leadership,” Norman says.
Others with close ties to JWU say the problem isn’t an inability to fill the role of president but a clash between previous Charlotte leaders and the administration in Providence.
The search for the next president of the Charlotte campus is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the university is forging ahead with plans to expand its course offerings into nursing and health-care professions. It is also exploring moving its athletics into a new tier.
Read the full story here for an in-depth look at JWU Charlotte’s history — and what’s ahead.
(WATCH BELOW: Johnson & Wales, JCSU will require students be vaccinated ahead of fall semester)
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