Meet the Staff
Dr. R. Lorraine (Laurie) Bernotsky
Executive Vice President
Provost
Professor of Public Policy & Administration
As Executive Vice President, Dr. Bernotsky serves as the chief operating officer of the institution and has primary responsibility in assisting the President in achieving the mission of the institution, which is student success. In this role, she provides strategic leadership for the university's budget and oversees the labor relations function of the institution. In addition, Dr. Bernotsky serves as the university's Provost by providing strategic leadership for the division of Academic Affairs, which includes the College of Arts & Humanities, College of Business & Public Management, College of Education and Social Work, College of Health Sciences, School of Music, College of the Sciences and Mathematics, University College, and the University Libraries. As Chief Academic Officer, she provides leadership for the university's more than 200 academic programs, nearly 1,000 faculty, and more than 17,500 students, 2,960 of whom are graduate students.
Dr. Jeffery L. Osgood, Jr.
Deputy Provost and Vice President for Academic Operations
Professor of Public Policy & Administration
Dr. Osgood serves as the principal deputy to the Provost and represents her to the university community. As Deputy Provost, he advises the Provost on a wide range of matters of institutional importance, including operational and strategic planning. Dr. Osgood has primary responsibility for providing leadership for the operational activities for division of Academic Affairs, which includes the university's colleges, schools, and libraries. Reporting directly to the Deputy Provost are the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Student Success, Vice Provost for Research and Creative Activity, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs & Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, and the Associate Vice President for Academic Systems and University Registrar. Additionally, he serves as Dean of the Graduate School.
Helen Hammerschmidt
Associate Vice President for Communications, Operations and Strategy
Helen serves as serves as a trusted advisor and university partner that supports the university’s mission and strategic plan as it relates office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. Helen works with the Deputy Provost and Vice President for Academic Operations to develop and execute the office’s strategic agenda and serves as the chief liaison between the University and the West Chester University Foundation for items related to the office of the Executive Vice President and the Division of Academic Affairs.
Mary Pat Werley
Assistant Vice President for Academic Budgets and Resource Planning
Mary Pat serves as a strategic partner in guiding the allocation of resources to support the academic priorities of the university strategic plan. The AVP is responsible for undertaking analyses, researching issues, preparing reports, and developing recommendations for the finances and budgets of the Academic Affairs division. This position provides leadership and financial guidance for the colleges and academic affairs directors; and serves as advisor to the Provost, Deputy Provost, and Deans on all divisional resource matters. The AVP is the chief liaison with the university budget office and works closely with all university divisions to ensure that the academic mission of the university is fiscally supported with a spirit of collaboration, communication, and cooperation.
Megan Fahey
Executive Associate to the Deputy Provost
Megan supports the Academic Affairs Division and works effectively within an environment of distributed leadership. She is responsible for the daily administration of the Deputy Provost Office and supervision of clerical staff and manages projects within certain deadlines. In conjunction with the Deputy Provost, Megan works closely with deans, Human Resources and faculty union on all aspects of the collective bargaining agreement, including workload and pay issues. She works on a variety of issues and projects for the Deputy Provost such as administrative searches, providing data, and writing reports. She coordinates summer school workloads and payroll for faculty and also serves as a liaison to senior administrators, chairs of campus committees, legal counsel, and State System administrators.
Judy Oulouhojian
Academic Affairs Budget Associate
Judy performs budgetary analysis and project management assignments that support the Academic Affairs Division. She works closely with the Academic Affairs Budget Manager and the Vice Provost. She is responsible for tracking the financial status for these areas through reconciliation, problem solving, and analysis. Judy works closely with the university college mangers to ensure accuracy and timeliness of divisional budget entries, and serves as a liaison with divisional staff, the budget office, and the payroll office for supplemental faculty payments.
Stephanie Kienle
Director of Faculty Affairs and Quality Improvement
Stephanie supports the Executive Vice President and Provost in the President’s Executive Office as the Director of Faculty Affairs and Quality Improvement. With a solution driven and systems focused approach, Steph manages faculty tenure and promotion data, tenured and probationary faculty evaluation schedules, sabbaticals, AWAs, and faculty retirement/resignation communications. Steph continues to collaborate with Academic Contract Administration & Compliance Operations on the development of a compliance process for student clinical and internship placements.
Since starting her WCU career in 2014 with the College of Health Sciences, Steph has implemented process improvement & data management strategies. Most notable, she revitalized the approval of student internship experiences by developing online applications with streamlined workflow processes, and built a comprehensive database to manage and track the status of affiliation agreements with external community partners.
Steph is a proud 2x WCU graduate and alumni of the women’s lacrosse team. With a passion for building collaborative relationships, Steph serves as a Provost office liaison to the college deans, administrative staff, and university stakeholders to ensure operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Patricia Kennedy
Administrative Assistant, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost