A proud Bluefield State College alum, Dr. Sarita A. Rhonemus now serves as the Interim Provost of Bluefield State University and continues as the University’s Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Accreditation Liaison Officer. Previous positions at B-State include Academic Affairs Administrator for Institutional Effectiveness and Director of Bluefield State—Beckley (7 years). Rhonemus also served as the Director and Academic Advisor for the Regents Bachelor of Arts (RBA) Degree Completion Program (4 years). She was the Director of Outreach Programs (20 years) and Interim Director of Research and Sponsored Programs (5 years) at Bluefield State before being appointed to her current position. Dr. Rhonemus was the Founding Executive Director of the West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education, the first successful replication of the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education model, later adopted by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
Rhonemus teaches upper-level online leadership courses for the West Virginia Remote Online Collaborative Knowledge System (WVROCKS) and Bluefield State. She contracted with the Appalachian Regional Commission as a consultant for the Appalachian Higher Education Network from 2000-2019. Rhonemus currently serves as a Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Peer Corps, Chicago, IL, and previously assisted as a Primary Peer Mentor for the HLC Persistence and Completion Academy. Additionally, Dr. Rhonemus taught in the Mercer County Public Schools System for three years immediately after graduating from Bluefield State.