Pierpont Community & Technical College Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New W.Va. Vocational Aviation Program Expected To Stimulate High-Tech Job Growth

Twenty-five million taxpayer dollars will help build a new aviation maintenance training hangar at the North Central West Virginia Airport in Bridgeport.

Gov. Jim Justice signed Senate Bill 1029 into law Thursday. During the recently completed special legislative session, the proposal sparked contentious debate in the House of Delegates on whether this was a legislative priority.

“Everyone should be incredibly proud because this is an incredible moment for everyone here,” Justice said. “My dad was a captain in the Air Force in World War II and he always said, ‘It is an honor flying with you.’ That’s exactly how I feel today.”

The law provides funds for the new home of Pierpont Community & Technical College’s aviation maintenance technology program.

The 70,000 square-foot facility will give the Pierpont program a significant increase in space, allowing for a boost in annual enrollment from 130 to 200 students per year.

Currently, the program has a waitlist of students who are immediately recruited into high-paying jobs after earning a one- to two-year degree.

Pierpont Board of Governors Chair David Hinkle said this facility is a regional game changers.

“The importance of this school, to the businesses up here is just unbelievable,” Hinkle said. “Without this school, we wouldn’t have the industry and we wouldn’t have the growth that’s available. Our school right now is at capacity. It’s going to be a game changer for the airport and the industry that we’ll be able to bring in here.”

Pierpont President Dr. Milan Hayward said the investment in the college and region’s economic future goes beyond a private success.

“It’s a public good,” Hayward said. “The evidence of that is this significant investment in the future of aerospace technology in West Virginia.”

The proposed design features two high bay hangers, aviation-related specialty labs, including shops for turbine and reciprocating engine overhauls, flight controls and hydraulics, lecture classrooms, and a learning resource and testing center. Pierpont’s Advanced Welding program will also have shops and classrooms within the facility.

For more information on Pierpont Community & Technical College and its Aviation Maintenance Technology program, visit pierpont.edu.

Justice Talks Budget at Fairmont State University

Governor Jim Justice made a stop at Fairmont State University on Thursday as part of his Save Our State tour, a statewide tour to promote his budget plan.

Justice asked lawmakers in his State of the State Address for more than $450 million in tax and fee increases, something Legislative leaders strongly oppose. On Monday, Justice released a second potential budget plan with smaller tax increases, but he said lawmakers still haven’t acted on any of his proposals.

“I put stuff on the table in the State of the State and nobody did anything,” he said at FSU. “And all of the sudden we’re a third of the way into the session, and who knows what in the world we’re doing.”

Lawmakers traditionally do not vote on a final budget bill until the end of the legislative session.

Justice repeated many of the same messages that he’s been sharing with West Virginians since he began the tour a few weeks ago: he warned the audience that the state’s economy is suffering, he reminded them that he isn’t responsible for creating the suffering, and he said that everyone should be prepared to make sacrifices to help West Virginia recover.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice talks about his budget proposal during a stop on his Save Our State Tour on Thursday, March 3, 2017, at Fairmont State University.

The Governor has stated that if the West Virginia Legislature doesn’t pass revenue measures during this legislative session, FSU, along with other colleges, could be completely eliminated from the state budget.

“We’ve all got to pull the rope and run up the hill together,” he said at FSU, using a metaphor of tugging a rope to illustrate how he thinks the state should face its uphill financial battles.

After Justice’s speech, FSU President Maria Rose said that the university continues to do its part to pull that metaphorical rope.

“We have experienced a number of budget cuts at the university and at (Pierpont Community & Technical College) over the past couple of years,” she said. “We have tried to trim our budgets as much as we can. We have tried to keep tuition at an affordable rate.”

She added that the potential of a future without FSU would be devastating for the local economy.

“I think the city of Fairmont needs to think about what the city would be like if the city and community college were not here,” she said.

In response to Justice’s budget press conference on Monday, Republican House Speaker Tim Armstead and Senate President Mitch Carmichael issued a joint statement stating that they were pleased to hear that the governor had listened to some of their concerns, and hoped to continue working with him on the budget this session.

Justice also made a Save Our State tour stop at the Randolph County Senior Center on Thursday.

Pierpont President Search Underway

A search committee has been formed to find the next president of Pierpont Community & Technical College.

Pierpont Board of Governors chairman James Griffin will serve as the search committee’s chairman.

The Times West Virginian reports that Griffin announced the committee’s members at a board meeting on Tuesday. They include board members Earl McConnell, Sharon Shaffer and Warren VanAlsburg; and Fairmont State University President Maria Rose.

Former president Doreen Larson left the school in April to become president of Edison Community College in Ohio.

Griffin says the search committee’s goal is to have a new president in place by April 2016.

Fairmont State, Pierpont to Ban Tobacco Use on Campus

Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College are banning tobacco use on their shared campus.

Both schools’ governing boards have approved adoption of a tobacco-free, smoke-free and vapor-free campus. The Times West Virginian reports that the new policy is effective Aug. 1.

Pierpont Board of Governors chairman James Griffin says the board wanted to create a healthier environment for students.

Fairmont State senior program coordinator Holly Fluharty says the university is taking steps to help tobacco users in the transition. Workers who use tobacco will be offered an alternative work schedule allowing them to take time to go off campus to smoke or do another activity, such as walking.

Fairmont State spokeswoman Amy Pellegrin says a student-led organization will help students adjust to the new policy.