Office of Student Retention Staff

Kristin Daiber

Director of Student Retention

Contact Info: kdaiber@wcu.edu or 828.227.7171
Hometown: Hershey, PA
Joined WCU: July 2021
Undergraduate Institution: Quinnipiac Univeristy - B.S. in Marketing
Graduate Institution: Bowling Green State University - M.A. in College Student Personnel; Western Governors University - MBA
Favorite Quote: "I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vistas that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come." Nelson Mandela, A Long Walk to Freedom

Anita Puerto

Associate Director of Retention, MAPS Coordinator

Contact Info: acpuerto@wcu.edu or 828.227.3764
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Joined WCU: 2015 (was an intern in 2014)
Undergraduate Institution: Radford University
Graduate Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University
Favorite Quote: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” – Jackie Robinson

Carson Williams

Senior Advisor, Coordinator - Summer Bridge Programs

Contact Info: williamscarson@wcu.edu or 828.227.7123
Hometown: Hickory, NC
Joined WCU: 2009 as an undergraduate student!
Undergraduate Degree: Western Carolina Univeristy- BSEd in Music Education and BM in Instrumental Music 
Graduate Degree: Western Carolina University- MEd in Higher Education Student Affairs
Favorite Quote: "Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever." - Walt Disney

Mosisah Mavity

Student Success Specialist

Contact Info: pmavity@wcu.edu or 828.227.2957
Hometown: Thomasville, GA
Joined WCU: July 2023
Undergraduate Institution: Brevard College- B.A. in English, Minor: Music
Graduate Institution: Miami University- M.A. in Literature
Favorite Quote: "The most precious kind of freedom you will not hear talked about in the world of wanting and achieving. It involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in a myriad of petty, unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom." -David Foster Wallace

Madison Steward

Student Success Specialist

Contact Info: msteward@wcu.edu or 828.227.2956
Hometown:  Nescopeck, PA
Joined WCU: August 2022 
Undergraduate Institution: The Pennsylvania State University- B.A. in Film/Video 
Graduate Institution: The Pennsylvania State University- M.Ed. in Higher Education 
Favorite Quote: 
“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” - L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Sidar Sahin

MAPS Academic Coach

Contact Info: ssahin@wcu.edu or 828.227.2217
Hometown: Izmir, Turkey 
Joined WCU: 2020
Undergraduate Institution: Beloit College 
Graduate Institution: Loyola University, Chicago 
Favorite Quote: "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." Chief Si'ahl, Duwamish 

Elinda Forster

Administrative Support Specialist

Contact Info: swu@wcu.edu or 828.227.3895
Hometown: Hong Kong
Joined WCU: July 2020
Undergraduate Institution: Western Carolina University
Favorite quote: "You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated." -Maya Angelou