BridgeValley Community and Technical College Story Archives

Marshall, BridgeValley Make Degree Agreements

Marshall University is partnering with BridgeValley Community and Technical College to help students who earn an associate degree in nursing to obtain a four-year degree.

The schools signed cooperation agreements last week. They will allow BridgeValley students to earn either a bachelor of science degree in nursing or a regents bachelor of arts degree at Marshall while finishing their courses at BridgeValley.

The options are available to BridgeValley students in South Charleston and Montgomery.

Students who graduate from BridgeValley’s associate nursing degree program will be allowed to pursue a four-year degree through Marshall’s online RN to BSN program.

The schools also will offer the regents bachelor of arts degree intended for adult students. It allows students to use previous and transfer credits toward completing their four-year degree.

BridgeValley Faces Eviction Over $1.8M in Back Rent

A West Virginia college could be evicted from its campus as the landlord has asked for more than $1.8 million in unpaid fees.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports obtained documents showing BridgeValley Community and Technical College could be evicted from its South Charleston campus for not paying almost two years’ worth of rent. Lawyers representing the landlord, West Virginia Regional Technology Park, asked the college’s president in early May for the payment by June 7.

BridgeValley President Eunice Bellinger said Tuesday the school hasn’t paid the rent because it does not have a current lease agreement with the landlord. The college’s most recent lease expired in June 2015 and it hasn’t signed any agreement since.

Bellinger says a lawyer from the state attorney general’s office is helping with the dispute.

Community College System to Hold Open House for ITT Tech Students

The ITT Technical Institute in Huntington recently closed after a crack-down on federal financial aid for for-profit institutions. The West Virginia Community and Technical College System is hosting an open house to show students ITT Tech students more options Tuesday.

The open house will be at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington.

BridgeValley Community and Technical College, Mountwest Community and Technical College and Huntington Junior College will be on-site to present options to the ITT Tech students.

ITT Technical Institute, one of the country’s largest for-profit institutions, announced this week it was permanently closing all campuses nationwide. The Department of Education recently banned ITT students from receiving federal aid as part of a crackdown on for-profit colleges. The Company has operated 130 campuses in 38 states. The location in Huntington is the states only location.

Students are asked to obtain their transcript from the ITT portal online and bring any information they have about their loans.

The open house will run from 10-1 on Tuesday.

Eunice Bellinger Named BridgeValley's New President

Eunice Bellinger has been named the new president of BridgeValley Community and Technical College.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the school’s Board of Governors voted Monday to select Bellinger as the college’s next president.

BridgeValley spokesman Brian Bolyard said the school’s presidential search committee recommended Bellinger, who was among three finalists for the post.

Upon required further approval of her contract by the West Virginia Community and Technical College System’s board, Bellinger will begin serving July 6.

BridgeValley officials say Bellinger has nearly 23 years of teaching experience and has held upper-level administrative positions at several colleges, including the State University of New York’s Niagara County Community College, SUNY’s Genesee Community College, Massachusetts Bay Community College, SUNY’s Empire State College and at the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi University.

Committee Names 3 Finalists for BridgeValley President

A presidential search committee for BridgeValley Community and Technical College has announced three finalists for the post.

The school is seeking a successor to retiring president Jo Harris.

The finalists are Eunice Bellinger, who has held upper-level administrative positions at several colleges; Cindy Kelley, vice president for academic affairs at Motlow State Community College in Tennessee; and Johnny Moore, special assistant to the president at Northeast Texas Community College.

The finalists will participate in open forums with administrators, employees, students and the public. Moore is to be on campus on Tuesday, Bellinger on Thursday and Kelley on April 25.

The Board of Governors will forward its recommendation to the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education for final approval.

Officials to Reveal Cause of February Train Derailment in W.Va.

The Federal Railroad Administration is set to announce what caused a fiery oil train derailment in southern West Virginia in February.

The agency has scheduled a news conference Friday morning at BridgeValley Community and Technical College in Montgomery.

A CSX train carrying 3 million gallons of Bakken crude derailed in the town of Mount Carbon during a Feb. 16 snowstorm.

Twenty-seven of the train’s 109 cars derailed. Twenty cars leaked crude oil.

The derailment shot fireballs into the sky, burned down a nearby house and caused fires on the ground that smoldered for days.

The owner of the destroyed home was treated for inhalation injuries. No one else in the area was hurt.

Speed had previously been ruled out as a factor.