A four-time graduate of Marshall University, Glen Midkiff knew early on that higher education was the career he wanted to pursue.   

“Ever since I was an RA [resident assistant] at Marshall, I fell in love with working with students and working in this type of environment,” Midkiff, director of stakeholder engagement, Lewis College of Business (LCOB), Marshall University said. “I didn’t know it was a possibility until I became an RA.”  

Midkiff went on to work as a resident director for Michigan State University and an assistant director at the University of Louisville before returning to Marshall to work as an event and public relations coordinator.   

While Midkiff also worked at Mountwest and Technical College for a few years, falling in love with Marshall in his early years eventually brought him back to the university.   

“I was a graduate assistant and resident director here on campus,” Midkiff said. “And fell in love with Marshall and fell in love with working in higher ed.”  

Midkiff says his favorite part has always been working with the students and seeing them succeed.   

“Seeing their growth and development and seeing them be successful and helping them along their journey by giving them resources,” Midkiff says. “It thrills me to get a phone call or an email from a student or a graduate that says, ‘you helped me find that internship, you helped me find that job.’ That’s my applause. I feel very blessed to do that work.”  

Along with his work in the LCOB, Midkiff keeps busy with various organizations and events throughout Marshall and the Huntington community.   

“The great thing about Huntington and Marshall, they’re interconnected, so a lot of their events will overlap. Even with our student organizations,” Midkiff said. “We try to combine our resources and look at ways we can collaborate with one another. I look at opportunities where I can connect with various student groups, organizations, faculty, alumni and community organizations; that way, we can all be successful and can have a great outcome.”  

Being the director of stakeholder engagement for the LCOB at Marshall, Midkiff is often asked what exactly that means and said it took him some time to figure it out himself.   

“I wear many different hats: maintaining relationships and keeping that communication going. It could be by one-on-one meetings; it could be through marketing or public relations. It could be through our social media channels, as well,” Midkiff said. “We use a variety of different ways to communicate with those constituencies. We use a variety of different of ways to reach out to them and make sure they stay connected to Marshall and the Lewis College of Business.”  

Midkiff says his work with all of the various groups and collaborative work is essentially his dream job.   

“I get to work pretty much with every different group that you can imagine. I get to collaborate with so many different people and do lots of different things,” said Midkiff.   

To be successful with the various areas his job entails, Midkiff says he has to be mindful of time-management.   

“It’s taken me 48 years to figure out, and I still don’t have it figured out,” Midkiff said. “I try to take care of pressing issues and get that down first [first thing in the morning]. I carve out time where I can actually speak to alumni and specific stakeholders.”  

While consistency seems to be Midkiff’s go-to, he says taking care of yourself is the most important thing.   

“But the most important thing I’d say is to take time for yourself and realizing what you can do to maintain your own personal wellness and your health,” he said. “Whether that’s your lunch break, getting away from the office for a little bit, taking a walk, making sure you have that as well, so you don’t feel overwhelmed.”  

Midkiff says his favorite thing about his job is getting to connect students and graduates to employers and vice versa. He says he loves the feeling of helping talent connect and help them discover where they are meant to be.   

At this point in Midkiff’s career, he had to think about his proudest accomplishment. Earlier this year, he won the Bob Hayes Staff Award, which has been his proudest moment thus far.   

“I love Marshall with all my heart and have a great affinity for it and try to do my best to make sure Marshall is promoted and taken care of,” Midkiff said. “I want to make sure people know what a great place Marshall is to work and also to get an education.”  

Midkiff encourages anyone interested in higher education to become an RA and get involved in various campus activities and events. He said these things would get students out there and help them gain confidence and courage to work with different people. He also encourages internships on campus for graduate students to gain experience.   

As for his future, Midkiff says his plans include pursuing his doctorate and possibly moving on to an assistant dean or other leadership roles within higher education.   

Brittany Hively can be contacted at [email protected].