Dr. Kathy Liptak
Interim Dean of the College of Professional Studies
Dr. Liptak works to promote and support the quality programs offered at Concord University, and she is here to foster success among our students and faculty. She wants our students to have high quality programs that are current, engaging, and will enable them to accomplish their future aspirations. Some of those programs include business and/or entrepreneurship, teaching, social work, sociology, sociology with an emphasis in criminology, and mass communication, which includes television and radio broadcasting, public relations, theater, or recreation and tourism management. Many of those programs are nationally accredited. Let Dr. Liptak and the College of Professional Studies faculty help you achieve your goals.
Faculty
Hannah Justice
Princeton, WV
Not only was Concord close to home for Hannah, but due to the reputation of the university’s commitment to providing extensive scholarship opportunities for students it attracted her to Concord even more. She emphasizes that one of the best parts of the campus is the community of diverse people. While getting to meet people from all over the world during her time on campus, Concord has shown her that although we are all different, we still come together as one people. Majoring in Chemistry with the chosen route being the 3+1 pre-pharmacy plan, Hannah has always wanted to work in the medical field while being behind the scenes in some way. She is involved on campus with the Bonner Scholars Program as well as the Appalachian Leadership Education Foundation.
“I would encourage a new student to come to Concord because you will get opportunities to meet new people, learn new things through picking one of the many options to study, and become a part of the comforting atmosphere created by students and faculty.”
Student
Karen Vuranch
Instructor of Theater and Communication Arts
Karen Vuranch brings decades of theater experience and extensive knowledge to Concord University. Vuranch has performed shows in every county in West Virginia, in 35 states and three foreign countries. She completed five performance tours of England and Wales, and toured China with 35 other storytellers. In 1982, she moved from Ohio to West Virginia to work for the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia as a storyteller. Here, she met her husband and together, the couple eventually founded their own theater company, WV Enterprises. Vuranch has written many performance pieces, including Coal Camp Memories, a play she wrote based on oral histories she collected. She also has 12 living history characters – remarkable women in history – that she researched and performs. “Teaching is a culmination of my years of work,” Vuranch says. “I have had years of being on stage and accolades. Now, I am ready to share what I know and to see my students flourish.”
Faculty