Ohio University’s Eastern Campus is just two buildings on the top of a hill in St. Clairsville, 20 minutes from the West Virginia border. But to the residents of the region it serves, it represents a chance to do something many of them consider unrealistic: furthering their education.

“We are their hope for that,” said Eastern’s Interim Dean Rich Greenlee. “We’re a place where a student might have no idea what higher education can do for them, but they can come here and they can begin to dream. You can’t dream if you can’t envision.”

Kathy Krendl, OU’s executive vice president and provost, went to Eastern last week as part of her effort to visit all five regional campuses this quarter to discuss findings from a task force on improving programs on the branch campuses and communication between the regional campuses and Athens. Though she does not do formal visits every quarter, the provost’s office said she does visit when her schedule permits it. Krendl said Eastern’s tight-knit community sets it apart.

“There is a sense of dedication to community and campus — you can almost touch it when you walk in there,” Krendl said. “It’s almost like the potential is unlimited. … You have a sense that they’re going to make things happen.”

Eastern has faced some challenges over the past few years as the area’s economy has suffered and its population of traditional college-age students has dropped. Between 2001 and 2007, Eastern’s total enrollment shrank by 28 percent. But despite these challenges and an initial decrease in enrollment this year, Eastern is up 19 students from this point last year. (The regional campuses were started in response to the G.I. Bill of 1944 in an effort to offer higher education to more people.)

Greenlee, who has served as the interim dean for about a year and is under consideration for the permanent position, said he is optimistic for the campus’s future. He said one of his goals is to increase the skills of the workforce and encourage people to stay in the region so they can start businesses there and rebuild the economy.

“I think too many times we overlook the strength of the people here,” he said. “We’ve kind of been stuck in a recession for a longer period of time. … So you have to be very resilient to be from here.”

Greenlee has several ideas for ways to increase Eastern’s enrollment, a goal for all the regional campuses over the next five years. He said he wants to add more options for Bachelor's degrees (the campus currently offers 11), and increase online and blended options for students who can’t get to campus regularly. Eastern’s most popular programs, Greenlee said, are early childhood education, business, middle childhood education and exercise physiology.

The dean also spoke about starting a business incubation center. An incubation center provides new businesses with management guidance, office space, access to technology and technical expertise until the business can get started. Once the business is financially sound, it moves into its own space and another one can move into the incubation center.

Greenlee, who has been at OU since 1990, is particularly invested in the region he serves because he is from the area and said his family has lived there since the mid-1800s. Greenlee, whose father was a coal miner, grew up assuming college was not an option for him.

“I didn’t know anyone who had gone to college other than teachers at school,” he said. “I didn’t really know how much it cost, I just assumed I couldn’t afford it. I didn’t know what you did when you went there, so I wasn’t sure what you went there for. … I didn’t even have a vision.”

Greenlee said his experience is common among people in the Appalachian region that four of OU’s five regional campuses serve. He said the first person who told him he could do anything he wanted was an Army recruiter when Greenlee did well enough on his IQ test to qualify for Military Occupational Specialty Training. He chose to learn about social work psychology.

While Greenlee was training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he started taking some college courses at night at the University of Maryland, where he eventually earned his degree. One of the first he took was a speaking class, where the teacher tried to eliminate his Appalachian accent.

“My self esteem was so small I started thinking, well they’re laughing at me,” Greenlee said. “When I started college, I never even told my family I was going because I figured if I flunked out they’d never know. … (But) the more and more I went, the more confident I got.”

The dean said he hopes OU-Eastern can help local students build the confidence to succeed in higher education. To do that, Greenlee said the campus emphasizes mentoring programs and works closely with several area high schools.  One project — High School Invasions — is specifically aimed at giving high school students a feel for college classes. Professors from Eastern go to a high school and each take over a classroom for the day.

“I think it’s a wonderful experience and it takes away this fear of not knowing,” said Greenlee, who is preparing to go on his first invasion. “Students can begin to understand that we’re just like everybody else and that this is not a scary place and that you should feel comfortable seeking a higher education.”

Krendl said she is impressed with the professors’ dedication and the fact that they volunteer their time to go teach in the high schools.

“They really go out there and make it real,” she said.

Krendl, who said she believes strongly in the role regional campuses play, also has a background in working with non-traditional students. When she was a high school English teacher in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Krendl also coordinated an adult basic education center. Before she came to OU, Krendl was dean of the School of Continuing Studies at Indiana University.

She said making college accessible to everyone should be a goal for anyone involved in higher education and the regional campuses are key to that effort.

“I want to take full advantage of the potential of the regionals to become full citizens of Ohio University to help define our future,” Krendl said. “Those regional campuses are the door of opportunity for traditional and non-traditional students.”

The dean said he also worries people will be scared off by the cost of tuition — $4,395 a year for the first two years.

Greenlee emphasizes the importance of informing potential students of the scholarship and loan options available.

“There is always a way to go and you can patch this together to support yourself but you have to know about it to even try it,” he said. “I really believe we are an institution of hope for a lot of people. And I can’t tell you the number of people I meet in the community that come up to me and say they would never be doing what they’re doing if they hadn’t started at Ohio University Eastern. … And that’s pretty rewarding.”