Dr. Francine G. McNairy was named the 13th president of Millersville University of Pennsylvania on March 28, 2003. As University president, Dr. McNairy serves as the chief executive officer with oversight of a $125 million budget, 1,000 employees, and 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The University has been nationally ranked as one of the top regional public institutions of higher learning by U.S.News & World Report. Prior to her appointment as president, Dr. McNairy served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Millersville University since August 1994. 

During Dr. McNairy's tenure as president, a strategic planning process has led to a new vision statement, a more intentional commitment to the University's promise to its students, a redesign of the budget process to encourage greater constituent participation, a focus on securing new revenue sources, and the strategic process of aligning the University's budget with institutional priorities and goals. She has championed an increase in faculty and student diversity. She oversaw the completion of a $40 million capital campaign and is engaged in the planning and implementation of the University's next capital campaign - a $60 million effort with emphasis on endowment growth, a major renovation and expansion of the performing arts center, and continuation of major academic facility upgrades including technology equipment advancements in the sciences, humanities, and education. 

President McNairy's emphasis on academic programs has resulted in new master's programs in emergency management (the first such fully online program), nursing (responding to the crucial need for nurse educators), and social work (a joint program with Shippensburg University - the first of its kind in Pennsylvania and only the third in the nation). During her presidency, a first-year experience program has been developed and expanded. These important initiatives show a positive correlation with second-year retention for participating students. 

Global education has continued to be a priority with the finalization of agreements with six international institutions in the last three years resulting in a total of 15 partnerships with colleges and universities throughout the world.  This growth in international partnerships has enhanced our students' opportunities to study and travel abroad, as well as ensured an increase in the number of international students who study at Millersville. The University has established a partnership with the U.S. Commercial Service Harrisburg/U.S. Department of Commerce to advance business opportunities for American corporations abroad, specifically in China and India. Concurrently, the University also maintains its ranking as a top performer in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education's annual performance funding allocations, with particular emphasis on second-year retention, four- and six-year graduation rates, and the recruitment and retention of highly qualified faculty.

The University's Civic and Community Engagement and Research Project was created to serve as the primary vehicle to foster, focus, and coordinate civic and community engagement and research among faculty, students, and staff. Dr. McNairy has led the University's commitment to community and civic engagement, which has resulted in an increase in active student involvement in the Lancaster region. During the 2007-08 academic year, more than 3,300 students performed more than 144,000 hours of service learning in community agencies, a 7% increase in hours served from 2006-07 and the equivalent of a $2.7 million contribution to the community, thus establishing greater outreach to government, business, and opinion leaders. 

Bridging the gap between generations within the Lancaster region, the University has played a lead role in establishing The Life of the Mind Consortium, a partnership among Willow Valley Retirement Communities, Franklin & Marshall College, and the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design; the emphasis is on encouraging and exchanging intellectual, social, artistic, and cultural ideas and activities. 

Building on its commitment to the Lancaster region, the University has established a partnership with CareerLink (a partnership of 17 nonprofit agencies connecting job seekers and employers). Under the umbrella of the Corporate University at Millersville and in partnership with Graduate Studies, the University received a three-year funding commitment of $389,000 from the Lancaster County Community Foundation to establish the Nonprofit Resource Network at Millersville. This network will provide the nonprofit sector with training and education, technical assistance, a resource clearinghouse, research assistance, and other professional development opportunities.

During President McNairy's tenure, the University's Professional Training & Education unit provided training assistance worth $240,000 to Pennsylvania companies in training grant funds from the Commonwealth; served more than 4,000 professionals and a total of about 11,000 nontraditional students; customized training services and programs for clients in the educational and corporate sectors; and developed a training consortium with Penn State Lancaster, Harrisburg Area Community College-Lancaster, Lancaster County Career & Technology College, and Stevens College of Technology to jointly serve the training needs of area businesses.

Dr. McNairy is an active member of the Lancaster County community, where she serves on the boards of the Lancaster General Medical Group, the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, and the American Association of Colleges and Universities Presidents' Trust for Liberal Education. She previously served on the boards of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry, YWCA, Leadership Lancaster, Lancaster Alliance, American Council on Education's Commission on Effective Leadership, and Lancaster Country Day School. Dr. McNairy also serves on both the Nominating Committee and Council of State Representatives for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Dr. McNairy's scholarship consists of publications, presentations, and consultations focusing on retention, the freshman seminar program, Black student retention, minority curriculum development, and academic support services. Dr. McNairy also serves as a guest columnist for the Sunday News (circulation of more than 100,000), writing six articles a year. She has been a featured speaker for the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, the Conference on the Minority Student Today, the National Academic Advising Association, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the International First Year Conference, Freshman Year Conferences sponsored by the University of South Carolina, the National Conference on Student Retention, the National Orientation Directors Conference, and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Conference on Cultural Diversity.

Dr. McNairy was named Outstanding First-Year Advocate by the National Resource Center for First-Year Students in Transition, the University of South Carolina, and Houghton Mifflin Co. In 2009, Dr. McNairy was a finalist for the Lancaster Samaritan Center's Ethics in Business Award. She has also received The President's Martin Luther King Jr. Award from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The Urban Connection of the Capital Region awarded Dr. McNairy the Heritage Award, Celebrating Women Who Maximize Their Potential. In 2006, she was one of eight women selected by Governor Ed Rendell as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. Dr. McNairy was selected by the Pa. Commission for Women for profile in their book, Voices - African American and Latina Women in Pa. Share Their Stories featuring 50 women of color, selected as role models with the intent to motivate young women to set and achieve higher future goals. She was also the recipient of the University of Pittsburgh's Distinguished Alumni Fellows Award in February 2005.

President McNairy holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology, a master's degree in social work, and a Ph.D. in speech rhetoric/communication with emphasis on interpersonal and small group communication from the University of Pittsburgh. She is also an alumnus of the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management.

Prior to her appointment at Millersville, Dr. McNairy served as the associate provost at West Chester University of Pennsylvania from 1988 through 1994. Her career in higher education began at Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 1973, where she was originally appointed as a faculty member and ultimately served in the position of dean of academic support services and assistant to the vice president for academic affairs from 1983 through 1988. In this latter capacity, Dr. McNairy instituted a minority student retention program, which successfully increased the rate of retention for minority students.

10/14/09