Higher Education Policy Commission Story Archives - Page 4 of 4

WVU Recommends New 5-year Contract for President

West Virginia University is recommending a new five-year contract for President Gordon Gee.

A news release says school’s board of governors made the recommendation Thursday, May 26. The deal next goes to the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, which has final approval authority.

The terms of the contract have not yet been disclosed.

Gee returned as president of WVU in March 2014. His two-year contract is worth $775,000 annually, including $125,000 from the WVU Foundation’s Milan Puskar President Chair Endowed Fund.

The contract expires June 30, and the new proposed deal would take effect July 1.

He was also president of the university from 1981-’85.

The Higher Education Policy Commission is slated to take up the contract on June 24.

Enrollment Down at West Virginia Colleges, Officials Say

Higher education officials say enrollment is down at West Virginia’s four-year and community colleges.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Chancellor Paul Hill told lawmakers Monday that has declined from its peak in 2011 as more people re-entered the work force. Officials said in their annual state of the Higher Education Report Card that full-time equivalent undergraduate enrollment fell from 64,427 in 2011 to 61,042 in 2014.

At the same time, officials say the number of students who are graduating is improving. Nearly 9,270 bachelor’s degrees were handed out in 2014, up to from 8,886 in 2011.

The number of students earning bachelor’s degrees in health related fields increased nearly 26 percent between 2010 and 2014. Degrees in science, technology, engineering and math majors increased by more than 12 percent.

W.Va.'s Student Enrollment Stabilizing

The Higher Education Policy Commission says student enrollment at West Virginia’s public four-year colleges is showing signs of stabilizing.

HEPC Chancellor Paul Hill says enrollment in the state’s public colleges has declined in each of the past five years, but a smaller decline this fall could indicate efforts to boost enrollment are working.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the head count for West Virginia’s 12 public four-year colleges is now 64,829. That’s a less than 1 percent drop from last year.

Neal Holly, the commission’s vice chancellor for policy and planning, says enrollment for students 24 and younger has been steady, dropping only 1.2 percent in the past five years. He says the state’s enrollment decline is higher among students 25 years and older at 27 percent since 2010.

Author: Women in STEM are More than Marie Curie

I'd like to start by talking about Marie Curie, and I am going to talk about her to say, we are not going to talk about her.

Rachel Swaby took the stage at the Walker Theater in Charleston as a part of the Higher Education Policy Commission’s Division of Science and Research STEM Speaker Series. Swaby, a freelance journalist, published her first book in April titled “Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science- and the World.”

“I think it’s easy to say, oh Marie Curie and just check that ‘you’ve talked about a woman in science’ box, but we should have a breadth of knowledge of many women who have done many amazing things,” Swaby said before her June talk.

Swaby’s book details the lives of 52 women from the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

One of her favorites ie Yvonne Brill, a rocket scientist who, in the 1970s, invented a satellite propulsion system that’s still being used today.

As a journalist, Swaby said she often finds herself writing about the STEM fields and doesn’t encounter much difficulty finding women to write about or talk to, but, she added, many journalists “rely on a rolodex of scientists” they’ve already been exposed to when writing their stories.

“There’s not a lack of women in science. There are a lot of women in science, they’re just not being covered as much, and I think they’re not being covered as much because of habit.”

Swaby said she hopes her book inspires conversations to change those habits, both for journalists and young women who may be interested in STEM careers.

The next event in the Higher Education Policy Commission’s Division of Science and Research STEM Speaker Series is scheduled for Thursday evening in Charleston.

Theoretical physicist Dr. Leonard Mlodinow will discuss the development of scientific theories and his book “The Grand Design,” which he co-authored with Stephen Hawking. That event is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Culture Center Theater.

W.Va. Higher Education Could See Tuition Increases in 2015-16 School Year

The Higher Education Policy Commission met at Shepherd University Friday to discuss tuition increases and a new reverse transfer policy.

West Virginia is one of three states that cut higher education funding in 2014 and 2015 consecutively. The others are Kentucky and Oklahoma.

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission briefly discussed tuition increases in the state at Friday’s meeting.

Right now, a higher education institution can increase its tuition 5% if it so chooses, but if it wants to increase tuition and fees more than 5%, the institution must get approval from the HEPC.

West Virginia University, West Virginia State, and Potomac State have requested a tuition increase of more than 5%. If approved, it would take effect in the 2015-2016 school year.

HEPC Chairman, Bruce Berry says one of the easiest ways for those schools to offset the loss of state revenue is to increase tuition and fees.

“So they’re placing the burden then on the student and or the student’s family,” Berry noted, “Makes it quite difficult for those individuals, especially from low-income families, to attend college.”

The commission will make a final decision on the tuition increase at a special meeting on June 22 in Charleston.

The HEPC also unanimously approved a reverse transfer policy that facilitates degree completion. The rule allows students who have transferred from a community college to a four-year institution, before receiving their associate degree, to be awarded an associate degree from the two-year college after earning enough credits while pursuing his or her bachelor’s degree.