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Women in Business

Meet 30 professionals who embody the modern concept of leadership. Each has vision and passion, and each is innovative and collaborative. Learn how these women are transforming old business models and making their workplaces better.

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Betty J. Caffo 

The reason students at Wilmington University are so successful is because Betty J. Caffo, Ph.D., is in charge of student success. She’s also responsible for crafting many of the strategies that have made WU the fastest-growing institution of higher learning in Delaware. In the seven years she’s served as provost and vice president of academic affairs (she’s been there 24 years), Caffo has developed 19 new academic programs, increased the number of courses by 33 percent, beefed up enrollment by 3,900 students, and secured three new specialized accreditations for the school. The task force she created to increase enrollment at WU’s New Jersey sites doubled its goal within six months. Caffo, a nurse by training, gets an A+ for team-building skills. She meets with assistant vice presidents and deans every week, stimulating a level of communication “not many universities with 12,000 students have,” she says. “The meetings are the best way to maintain and improve academic quality with such a large cadre of faculty that’s spread out demographically.”

THE OPERATING PLAN Hire an army of long-term adjunct faculty while maintaining a small, full-time teaching staff.

RISK AND REWARD Her boss, WU president Jack Varsalona, “challenges us but encourages us to be innovative, risk-takers and decision-makers. He appreciates us and he shows it.”
 

Page 2: Julie A. Hester