Tag: West Liberty University

West Liberty Committee Sets Timeline for Selecting President

A West Liberty University search committee has set a timeline for the process of naming the school's next president.West Liberty said in a statement…

A West Liberty University search committee has set a timeline for the process of naming the school’s next president.

West Liberty said in a statement Tuesday that the 22-member committee selected university Board of Governors member Leslie DeFelice to lead the search committee.

The committee set a June 12 deadline to receive applications and has scheduled a June 19 meeting to narrow the pool to about eight to 10 candidates. Preliminary interviews would be held in early July. Finalists would be selected in September with the goal of naming the new president in early October.

Former President Robin Capehart resigned March 11 following an ethics complaint and a vote of no confidence by the faculty. John McCullough is serving as interim president.

West Liberty Board Appoints Presidential Search Committee

West Liberty University's board has appointed a committee to conduct a search for the school's next president.The 21-member committee includes the Board…

West Liberty University’s board has appointed a committee to conduct a search for the school’s next president.

The 21-member committee includes the Board of Governors, members of the university’s Foundation Board, and representatives of students, faculty and staff.

The Board of Governors approved the search committee on Wednesday. The committee’s first meeting will be held April 28.

Board of Governors chairman George Couch says in a news release that the goal is have a new president on campus by Jan. 1, 2016.

Former President Robin Capehart resigned on March 11 following an ethics complaint and a vote of no confidence by the faculty.

John McCullough is serving as interim president.

West Liberty Crayfish Researcher Named Professor of the Year

    

A West Liberty University researcher has been named the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia’s Professor of the Year.

The foundation presented Zachary Loughman with its annual award Tuesday night at a banquet in Charleston.

Loughman is an assistant biology professor whose research focuses on North American crayfish. He has named three species of crayfish, including one found in the Tug Fork region, and his laboratory conducted a five-year survey of crayfish in all 55 counties.

Loughman received a $10,000 cash award.

Other finalists were Lisa Di Bartolomeo and Powsiri Klinkhachorn of West Virginia University, Harald Menz of Bethany College, and William Palmer of Marshall University.

The Faculty Merit Foundation was created in 1984 to recognize and reward innovation and creativity at West Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities.

West Liberty Faculty Vote No Confidence in President Capehart

The West Liberty University faculty senate has voted no confidence in President Robin Capehart, who is facing an ethics complaint.
 
The vote Monday was 13-6, according to media reports.
 
The vote follows a complaint in January by the West Virginia Ethics Commission alleging Capehart used university resources to promote his film company’s movie “Doughboy.”
 The complaint states that Capehart used a state credit card to promote the film and a university television station to advertise the movie, among other claims.
 

Capehart has denied the allegations.
 
The university’s board of governors is expected to discuss the matter at its March 11 meeting.
 

The Ethics Commission has scheduled a public hearing for April 16 in Charleston.

    

West Liberty Basketball Striving for National Success

A year after falling just one win short of a Division 2 National Championship, West Liberty Basketball is once again one of the best teams in the country.

The most dominant basketball team in the state doesn’t reside in Morgantown or Huntington. The West Liberty Hilltoppers are ranked number 1 in the Division 2 coaches’ poll and sit at 9-0. Their next game doesn’t come till January 3rd against Concord. West Liberty advanced to the Division 2 title game last year before falling to the University of Central Missouri. Head coach and West Virginia native Jim Crutchfield said their success is predicated on a unique playing style that encourages high scoring affairs.

“You know I’ve been at this a while and recruited for a long time and I’ve never had a kid sit in front of me and say coach I’m more of a slow-down type of guy, they all think they want to play in this system, but it’s not easy, if it were easy everyone would be doing it.,” Crutchfield said.

West Liberty receives more attention on a national scale than they do in the state, but Crutchfield said he’d rather receive little hype or attention from either. He likes it better when his team can sneak up on the opponent, which he says doesn’t often happen when you’re ranked number 1 in the country.

“I’ve always felt like I personally function better as an underdog, seems to bring out the best in me and now we’re all the sudden in this position where we’re supposed to win, you’re supposed to win the league or supposed to win each game,” Crutchfield said.

Crutchfield is 278-49 in 11 seasons in West Liberty. He says they try not to think about what a national championship could mean for the program, state or the university.

“It does mean something, but that kind of pressure we don’t throw out there to our team or our players that we have to win cause it would be great for everybody, we try to keep them grounded for the next game,” Crutchfield said.

Despite their dominance the Hilltoppers came up short in last years Mid East Conference Tournament to the University of Charleston. 

West Liberty Hilltoppers Head to National Championship Game

The West Liberty Hilltoppers will play for an NCAA Division II men’s basketball championship for the first time in school history.  The Hilltoppers knocked off South Carolina-Aiken 86-83 in Thursday night’s national semifinals.

West Liberty isi now 31-3 overall.  WTOV-TV reports the 7th ranked Hilltoppers will face 20th ranked Central Missouri in the championship game Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Evansville,   Indiana. 

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