West Virginia University - News and Information Services
WVU President-elect Mike Garrison debuts 'Mike's Notes' computer blog
Use your keyboard to 'Join the Conversation'...
Want a word with West Virginia University President-elect Mike Garrison?
Well, you don’t necessarily need an appointment – and you don’t even have to worry about finding a parking space near his Stewart Hall office.
All you need is a computer keyboard and this address: http://mikesnotes.blogs.wvu.edu/. That’s the link to the new presidential blog, which is part of WVU’s official transition Web site. The blog is called “Mike’s Notes,” and he plans on using it a lot during his tenure as WVU’s top leader.
He wants students, staffers, faculty and anyone else with an abiding interest in the state’s flagship University to use it, too.
Blogs (the word is combination of “Web” and “log”) are those online journals that offer up comments, reflections, photographs, links to other sites and everything else by their creators.
People browsing the blogs are encouraged to talk back – and that’s the component that really struck a chord with Garrison, a 38-year-old WVU alum and Morgantown attorney who officially assumes his presidential post Sept. 1.
In the meantime, Garrison has been out and about on WVU’s Downtown and Evansdale campus, chatting with everyone he sees. He took part in two informational forums last week – both of which were promoted on the blog site.
“I actually had our students in mind at first with the blog,” said Garrison, who launched the site earlier this month as part of his “Join the Conversation” transition theme.
“They’re the ones who are tech-savvy,” he said. “They’re the ones who know this stuff, and they’ve got thoughts and opinions.”
And “joining the conversation,” Garrison said, means just that.
“I’m not talking about monologues, with me going on and on,” he said. “I’m talking about dialogues. The blog is just one more avenue for that conversation. There are just so many more ways you can communicate now, and all the voices on the blog are going to add to the layers of what we’re going to do – and do right – to advance the mission of this very special place.
“We’re all part of the community of WVU here. I want you to say hello when you see me on campus. I want you to come by my office. I want to hear what you think is right, and not right, about WVU. Hit that blog if it turns out you can’t talk to me in person – that’s what it’s there for.”
Garrison will take over for David C. Hardesty Jr., who is retiring in September after 12 years in Stewart Hall.
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