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Marshall Community, Local Leaders Say New President Brad Smith Can Create Entrepreneurial Culture for University, Region

The news that Brad Smith will become Marshall’s next president sparked high interest across the state as the corporate CEO returns home to helm his alma mater.

Community leaders in the Huntington area say they are optimistic for the future of the University.

“I’m a bit biased because I was on the Presidential Search Committee,” said Tracy Christofero, who serves as chair of Marshall University’s Faculty Senate, “What I like about him as a candidate is that he knows Marshall, he knows the environment. He knows the culture of West Virginia, and I believe he has always had the best interest of the university and the region at heart.”

Cathay Burns, Executive Director of the Huntington Municipal Development Authority, said that Brad Smith has been an advocate for revitalization by facilitating economic growth. She said Smith’s selection can create dual connectivities — “not only for the students, but also for business leaders and economic development leaders in the region. And not just the community, but the entire region, the entire state and the surrounding states.”

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams was similarly hopeful that Smith’s corporate leadership background will help him to shape a strong mindset for the future of the state. “Frankly, I can’t be more thrilled for Huntington and for the state of West Virginia that we have him right here to be able to help us create a culture of entrepreneurship,” Williams said.

Having Smith as Marshall’s president means his skills and knowledge can be passed down to students in the region, Williams said. He thinks Smith has the ability, “to lead, to teach, and also to reinforce that we can compete with anybody.”

Marshall University President Jerome Gilbert hugging his successor Brad Smith

Despite the warm reception from community leaders and faculty, some students have expressed concern over Smith’s background outside of academia. Student body president Alyssa Parks said students are slowly warming up to the new president despite some initial hesitancy.

“Brad has been really open to talking to anyone who has had any concerns. I think that’s a really great quality in him. He’s open to tough conversations. He’s open to criticism,” Parks said. “Once he gets into the office, he can start talking to people and people really get to know him.”

The hiring model of selecting a non-academic to lead a public institution isn’t new, Christofero said. “Some percent of the universities now are run by people with non-traditional backgrounds in academia.”

Christofero doesn’t see Smith’s background as being a hindrance if he has the right people around him. “As long as we have a strong provost, that’s really who takes care of the academic side. Theoretically, the president certainly needs to deal with our donors and all of the university, the legislators, fundraising and promoting Marshall to help increase enrollment.”

W.Va. Governor To Sign Order Authorizing Fall Reopening Of Colleges

Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday that he will sign an executive order authorizing universities and colleges to reopen their campuses this fall.

Justice already announced his support for higher education reopening plans on Monday, before holding a closed meeting with public and private university presidents Tuesday. The group discussed coronavirus testing for out-of-state students and the implementation of face mask requirements, according to a press release from Justice’s communications office.

In West Virginia, young adults are testing positive for the coronavirus more than any other age range, according to coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh.

“All around us, we see that there’s a lot of activity from COVID-19, and it’s important to note that across the country, and in West Virginia, we are seeing a rise in COVID-19 [cases] that is particularly isolated to people that are 18 to 29,” said Marsh, the executive dean of health sciences at WVU who the governor appointed in March as the state’s leading COVID-19 expert.

That age range, and people who are 30 to 39 years old, account “for a majority of the new cases in many parts of our country,” Marsh added.

Data from the state on Friday showed West Virginia’s 20-to-29-year-old age bracket was the most active, accounting for more than 23 percent of the state’s total COVID-19 cases.

According to Justice, higher education institutions have demonstrated to him they’re prepared to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

“I’m absolutely a believer that these universities and colleges have done incredible planning,” Justice said. “Each one of them has their own separate plan of how they can ensure the safety of the kids and the staff and everybody that’s there. … I believe without any doubt that we have flipped every rock, to ensure the parents of these children and all those that are involved, that we absolutely can go back to school and go back to school as safely as we possibly can.”

Across the state, colleges and universities have produced contingency plans for reopening, which include more distanced and outdoor dining options and replacing shared dormitory units with single-occupancy rooms.

The governor also said Friday that signing the order is an important step to reopening K-12. On July 8, Justice and state superintendent of schools Clayton Burch announced West Virginia will reopen classrooms Sept. 8.

The state’s re-entry toolkit for school districts includes recommendations for social distancing in the classroom and the screening of COVID-19 symptoms among children and adult personnel.

The department will issue an updated toolkit early next week, according to spokesperson Christy Day.

West Virginia education leaders have yet to elaborate on the state’s plans for when teachers and other school employees test positive for the coronavirus.

Day said in an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting Friday that the department will have a better idea of how it’s handling teachers who test positive in either the first or second week of August, after county school districts finalize and share their individual re-entry plans with the state.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared updated guidelines for K-12 schools on Thursday, July 23, urging schools to resume in-person classes, saying “the best available evidence” shows children with COVID-19 are less often symptomatic.

“[T]he harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant,” the CDC noted at the start of its most recent online recommendations.

Some health experts say it’s still unclear how the virus affects young children and teenagers. Pediatricians told NPR earlier this week it’s also uncertain how the virus spreads among children to adults.

The CDC’s new recommendations come two weeks after the president called the agency’s earlier guidelines for social distancing in the classroom “tough and expensive,” according to NPR.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Most State Colleges Keep Cost of Attendance Flat Despite Deficits Created By Coronavirus

In 2018, when Mirta Martin became president of Fairmont State University, she never imagined leading a school that was already in a dire financial state because of a pandemic. But because of measures she took upon taking the job, she doesn’t have to raise tuition in the face of the coronavirus.

“I can tell you that as a first-generation student, as the first in my family to go to college, I am all too sensitive about the plight of our students. And, you know, while $50 some may think it’s not a lot, for others, it’s the difference between putting food on their table and not putting food on their table,” Martin said.

Fairmont State University, like many of the colleges across the state, faced the question of whether or not to recoup lost revenue from housing and board refunds from last semester and increased cost of necessary cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment by raising tuition.

At West Virginia University, where there’s a slight budget deficit for the fiscal year, officials decided against raising tuition for the first time in over 20 years.

At both West Virginia University and Fairmont University, officials have made up for their deficit by tightening spending and limiting non-essential employee travel.

Marshall University, Concord University and the University of Charleston have also announced that they will not be raising tuition and fees.

Glenville State College, and West Liberty University plan to raise tuition and fees by a small margin this semester.

West Liberty University, which is seeing a $200 increase in tuition for full time students taking 12 or more credit hours, is starting an initiative through its foundation office called Helping Hilltoppers to help students offset the added cost.

As President Stephen Greiner explains, this will cover the same ground as the CARES Act funding distributed by the federal government.

“The reason behind this is to assure or to help them return to West Liberty and have funds available if they need them for the kinds of expenses that students [have]. Whether it’s medical or whether its food, whether it’s housing, whether it’s child care, those kinds of things that will help a student stay enrolled at West Liberty,” Greiner said.

This fund is in no way tied to federal CARES Act money, or any other state or federal funding, he said.

While colleges across the state have opted for either a small increase, or no increase at all to cost of attendance over last year, the question of sustainability comes to mind.

West Virginia University Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop thinks the college will be able to maintain its current operating budget without a significant cost increase to students in the coming years.

“If there are tuition increases, they’ll be much more moderate, as in the 1, 2, 2 and half-percent increases as opposed to the 4 or 5 percent we’ve done in the past. I think it’s just a different environment, and we’re really trying to be thoughtful about the burden we put on our students,” Alsop said.

As of now, most colleges in the state plan to resume in-person classes in the fall.

West Virginia College to Offer Certain Students Free Tuition

Eligible West Virginia students could receive free tuition at Bluefield State College this fall.

News outlets report the college announced Tuesday that over a dozen programs classified as “high-skilled, high-demand” would begin offering free tuition.

Qualifying students can be incoming, current or transferring state residents that are Pell grant eligible and have completed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Students must also maintain a 2.0 grade point average. Programs that will accept free tuition students include engineering, computer science, nursing, business, education and criminal justice.

College officials said more than 70% of Bluefield State’s students could be eligible.

Bluefield State’s website shows nondiscounted tuition can be almost $4,000 for residents and $7,000 for out of state students.

Bluefield State is a public, historically black college in southwestern West Virginia.

Public Colleges and Universities in W.Va. See Lowest Tuition Increase in Nearly Ten Years

It’s not uncommon for tuition rates at universities and colleges to fluctuate in price from year-to-year. But this year, at West Virginia’s colleges and universities, the average tuition increase is the lowest for the state in almost a decade.

For the upcoming 2019-2020 school year, the average cost for in-state tuition at West Virginia’s four-year institutions will be $7,690, according to the Higher Education Policy Commission. That’s a 2.4 percent increase over last year’s tuition rates.

To put that in perspective – basically for the upcoming school year, students will be spending an average of $177 more on their yearly tuition.

According to Sarah Tucker, Interim Chancellor of the HEPC, this is the lowest increase in nearly ten years. She says this low increase comes as a result of four-year institutions trying to keep their tuition prices predictable and affordable.

Tuition for all public four-year institutions.

Two institutions, Glenville State College and West Virginia State University, did not see a tuition increase this year. This is the second year that Glenville State College kept its tuition rate the same from one year to the next.

A full schedule of all tuition, fees, room and board may be found in the meeting agenda book.

Enrollment Drops at West Virginia 4-Year Public Colleges

Higher education officials say the number of students attending public four-year colleges in West Virginia has dropped 3 percent from a year ago, including a 9 percent dip in the number of first-time freshmen.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the state Higher Education Policy Commission released the figures Friday.

The number of students attending four-year colleges was about 62,700 this fall. About 10,300 of those were first-time freshmen.

Excluding high school students taking “dual enrollment” college classes, the overall enrollment was about 57,300, down 4 percent from last fall. Based on those figures, Fairmont State University, West Liberty University and the West Virginia University Institute of Technology were the only colleges to report enrollment increases.