When it comes to helping students stay in school, Retention Specialist Marlenea Brand knows honesty is the best policy.

“I was on academic notice as a freshman,” Brand said. “I had a 1.7 GPA. I’m more than happy to say that out loud for anyone to hear.”

She wants students to know she’s been there, literally. Born in Turkey Creek, a small community in Wayne County, she’s familiar with the hardships that come with making the transition from rural West Virginia to college life.

“I grew up very, very poor,” Brand said. “I didn’t have indoor plumbing until I was seven. And I was the only person from my graduating class that came up to WVU."

Arriving in Morgantown, all Brand had was $5 in change. There was no computer, no cell phone and no way for her to contact her family.

Nor did she have someone who could help her prepare for college life. As a first-generation student, she was going in blind, and soon found herself straying off-track.

"I just wasn’t prepared,” Brand said. “I was in the wrong major. I’m not embarrassed about that. A student could end up on academic notice for so many reasons."

Among them: family obligations, mental health, financial difficulties and undiagnosed learning disorders. Sometimes, it’s a combination of several factors at once.

Luckily, the John Chambers College of Business and Economics offers a full suite of resources to assist with GPA recovery, including scholarships, workshops and consulting sessions with academic success coaches. One of those coaches is Brand herself, who is putting her experience to work as a full-time retention specialist.

“One of the first things I start off with in my success coaching appointments is ‘why’? Why are you on academic notice? What’s the struggle? Retention is based on the student’s need, not a one-size-fits-all approach.”

She knows from personal experience that every student is unique, and that means their solutions have to be unique too. Where students come from, and what motivates them, is just as important as what they struggle with.

Her approach is already paying dividends. In spring 2025, a review of the Chambers College’s retention initiatives found that students who took advantage of academic notice resources boosted their GPAs by an average of 0.75.

"We had a student whose GPA jumped from a 1.9 to a 3.2,” Brand said. “We had another who was on his last semester of academic notice before suspension, and he raised his GPA to where he’d be able to stay in school. I have another who’s doing phenomenally – he’s going to be a Peer Mentor next semester.

“I have some students on academic notice whose brothers and sisters are coming to WVU because their older siblings are doing so well now. Being able to retain students and prove that they can be successful will help us recruit other students from smaller parts of West Virginia who have been told that WVU is beyond them.”

Home is where the heart is, and at the heart of Brand’s work is her home: the one she came from, and the one she found at WVU.

“I want my story to be a motivation for people. If that little girl from Turkey Creek can succeed, you can too. My version of success has always been helping other people find theirs.”

-WVU-

AM 10/21/25 

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Andrew Marvin 
Senior Communications Specialist
John Chambers College of Business and Economics
andrew.marvin@mail.wvu.edu