First black woman president at region's fastest-growing university

Wilmington University says Dr. Jack Varsalona, who more than doubled enrollment to 21,500 at the predominantly parttime school since taking its top job in 2005, is stepping down June 30, after he turns 65. His top lieutenant, Executive Vice President Dr. LaVerne Harmon, will replace him as President.

Harmon will be the first African American woman to head any of the three universities located in Delaware, the school says. Harmon holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, plus two WU degrees. She took over as executive vice president, overseeing operations, strategic planning and growth, in 2014, preparing her to succeed Varsalon, board chairman Joseph J. Farnan Jr. said in a statement.

Varsalona, who previously served as an aide to Delaware Gov. Pierre S. du Pont IV and as principal of Ursuline Academy in Wilmington before joining WU as EVP  in 1987, was paid $1.5 million in salary and bonus last year, Ivy League-scale compensation at a school with no tenured faculty, where three-quarters of the 600 instructors, many at satellite campus across South Jersey, Delaware and cyberspace, are part-time adjuncts paid around $1,500 to $3,000 a course.

The Chronicle of Higher Education lists WU as one of the fastest-growing colleges in the country, with enrollment rising an average of more than 1,000 students -- about five percent -- each year under Varsalona. It has also listed Varsalona as one of the highest-paid college presidents. The school grants more than 3,000 degrees/year.

Varsalona and the school's backers say its free-market model has stimulated its rapid growth at a time when many private colleges in the Northeast face declining applications and enrollments. Read my 2015 interview with Varsalona here, my article about the school's growth, plans and critics here.