The Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU) Board of Directors has announced Dr. Eric Fulcomer as its next President and CEO beginning mid-December 2022.
Dr. Fulcomer is the current President at Rockford University. With almost 30 years of experience in higher education, he is a longtime university administrator and has developed a broad understanding of various organizational functional areas including strategic planning, government relations, fiscal management, and fundraising.
“I look forward to continuing WAICU’s mission of ‘Working together for educational opportunity,’ with a focus on student financial aid at both the state and federal levels,” said Dr. Fulcomer.
“On behalf of the WAICU board and our twenty-three member schools, we are thrilled that Eric Fulcomer has agreed to become WAICU’s next President. Eric is a dynamic and creative leader who will help WAICU and its member schools navigate the challenges facing higher education in the twenty-first century. The strategic and community-based approach that Eric demonstrated as President of Rockford University will serve WAICU well, especially as we look to develop new and innovative partnerships with the private sector, institutions of higher education,
and the government. We would like to thank Rolf Wegenke for his thirty-year tenure leading WAICU and are grateful to have found such a strong candidate to lead WAICU into its next chapter,” said Dr. Michael Lovell, WAICU Board chair and president of Marquette University.
Dr. Fulcomer stated, “I have often said that one of the greatest joys of being a university president is helping students achieve their dreams. I believe serving as President and CEO of WAICU will allow me to help students throughout the state of Wisconsin, at each of the 23 WAICU-member schools, to achieve their dreams through advocating for independent higher education, providing scholarship support, and helping institutions save resources that can be reinvested into students on their campuses.”
Dr. Fulcomer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English Language and Literature from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, his Master of Arts in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, and Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. He was recently appointed to the Board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Associated Colleges of Illinois (ACI).