WCU Alumna Blends Project Management with Hospitality

Michaela Schmidlin, MPM ’18 can put your fear of hosting holiday company in perspective. As Entertainment and Event Programming Manager for Asheville-based The Biltmore Company, Schmidlin serves as the project manager for a number of estate events, the largest undertaking being Christmas at Biltmore and Candlelight Christmas Evenings.   

Discover Her Story  

Center for the Study of Free Enterprise associate director conducts study on pandemic, college enrollment

Sean Mulholland, associate director of the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise, has a new study on the effects of COVID-19 on college enrollment.  

Distinguished professorships in education, computer info, musical theatre filled by WCU trustees

The WCU Board of Trustees approved the appointment of four new distinguished professors to teach, conduct research and provide community outreach.  

More surgical masks donated to community, via WCU-based group

Some 15,000 much-needed surgical masks are now available for health care providers across the 18 counties of Western North Carolina, thanks to big efforts by a small group centered at Western Carolina University.  

An MBA Brings it All Home for Waynesville Woman

Emily McCurry can make anyone feel right at home ― maybe because she most certainly is. Home for her is Waynesville, where she was born and raised. She is a community leader, with a long list of local service and civic organizations, and a successful businesswoman, with an office on Main Street.   

Read Her Story  

Drive, Ambition and Entrepreneurship: How One Alumna Stayed Local to Apply Her Degree

Natalie Newman knew she had the drive and ambition to run her own business, but what she needed was direction and inspiration. She found both in Western Carolina University’s master’s degree program in innovation leadership and entrepreneurship through the College of Business.  

Entrepreneurship Alumnus Makes Most of Confidence Starting a Business and Facing the Shark Tank

Garrett Ozar, a 2009 graduate with a degree in entrepreneurship, took managerial skills and confidence gained from the Innovation Leadership and Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business, to start a success story. He is the co-founder of Eterneva, an Austin, Texas, based company started in 2017 that takes ashes from cremated remains, isolates the carbon and, with heat and pressure, creates diamonds as an everlasting keepsake.   

Sport Management Program Helped Jimerson Advance his Career at WCU

How Rory Jimerson got to Western Carolina University is interesting enough. How he’s managed to stay in Cullowhee thanks to the university’s Master of Sport Management Program and his love of athletics, which led to him becoming the school’s director of athletic facilities, is even more interesting.  

Student Sees Parallels in Wilderness Experiences and Project Management

At age 23, Joseph Guseman is a bit of a paradox: old soul wonder kid. He graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in parks and recreation management in December 2017, a semester early (of course). He’ll finish his master’s degree in project management through WCU’s College of Business in December, all the while working fulltime for WCU’s Facilities Management. He took the job for a few reasons: it would pay for his graduate degree...