West Virginia Univeristy Story Archives - Page 3 of 6 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Faculty Question How University Will Avoid Future Cuts

At Monday’s WVU Faculty Senate meeting, Provost Maryanne Reed announced a significant number of faculty — 74 — have voluntarily retired or resigned from the university.

Faculty members at West Virginia University (WVU) have started to learn whether or not their contracts will be renewed.

In response to a $45 million budgetary shortfall, WVU determined last month that it needed to cut 143 faculty positions, called reduction in faculty (RIF).

However, at Monday’s WVU Faculty Senate meeting, Provost Maryanne Reed announced a significant number of faculty — 74 — have voluntarily retired or resigned from the university.

“If there’s any good news, it is that the number of faculty who will be receiving their RIF notices has been reduced by a little over 50 percent,” she said.

That leaves 69 faculty yet to be dismissed.

“I realized that is of little solace for the family of those faculty members who will be losing their positions,” Reed said. “I recognize this is going to be very difficult on those individuals and their families.”

Much of the meeting was taken up by questions from faculty senators to administrators regarding the process and appeals for a reduction in force.

President Gordon Gee was asked how the university is planning to avoid future cuts.

“I cannot predict the future, although I can predict that this transformation process will allow us to have an opportunity to be more forward leaning,” he said.

Gee said the academic transformation will position the university to be competitive and continue to grow and invest. He also pointed to a new state funding formula that will be helpful “to look into the future in a much more positive way.”

Faculty members did not seem satisfied with Gee’s answers. Daniel Totzkay, senator for the Eberly College of Arts & Sciences, reiterated the question again later in the meeting.

“We’re here because we had a $45 million budget deficit,” he said. “How do we not get there again?”

Gee said that the academic transformation process was accelerated by the university’s financial problems, but began before as a response to a changing landscape in higher education.

“Can I guarantee that we’ll no longer have budgetary problems? Of course not,” Gee said. ”But I can guarantee that we’ll work to grow our budget, that we’ll work to put ourselves in a much more competitive position.”

Rob Alsop, WVU’s vice president for strategic initiatives, gave more detail regarding the implementation of new budgetary practices, including a new budgetary model.

“Additionally, we are seeking to enhance the reporting from a budgetary perspective,” he said. “There will be more reporting publicly about, ‘How do our revenues look coming into the fall? What do our expenses look like over the first couple of months going forward?’ And so, what we have done in the past, that we’re redoubling our efforts moving forward, is to be more aggressive and looking at leading indicators.”

U.S. DOJ Awards More Than $6 Million To Law Enforcement Across The State

The grants and programs are meant to support law enforcement, bolster forensic science research, as well as prevent and respond to crimes against children.

The U.S. Department of Justice will distribute $5.8 million to 16 law enforcement programs across the state.

The grants and programs are meant to support law enforcement, bolster forensic science research, as well as prevent and respond to crimes against children.

The largest individual award is more than $3 million from the DOJ’s Law Enforcement Transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to Improve Hate Crime Reporting Program to Full Circle Training Solutions, a law enforcement training firm in Morgantown.

The Berkeley County Commission will receive $1 million for school safety from the DOJ STOP School Violence Program, which is designed to assist local and state authorities in improving efforts to reduce violent crime in and around schools.

The DOJ Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes Program awarded West Virginia University more than $500,000 for the development of methods for the identification and analysis of forensic evidence for criminal justice purposes.

Wyoming, Mercer, Randolph, Berkeley and Fayette Counties as well as Clarksburg, Elkins and Morgantown will each receive a DOJ Assistance Grant averaging $15,000.

WVU Continues Cuts With Reductions To Library Staff

WVU libraries will be asked to further reduce their budget by up to $800,000 as part of a review of 20 academic support units.

During a Campus Conversation Zoom call Wednesday morning, West Virginia University announced more planned cuts as part of its continuing restructuring in the face of a $45 million budgetary shortfall.

WVU libraries will be asked to further reduce their budget by up to $800,000 as part of a review of 20 academic support units.

Unlike academic units, academic support units are not subject to the Board of Governors’ rules and will not have a chance to appeal.

Mark Gavin, the associate provost for academic, budget, facilities and strategic initiatives, said the cuts will come from reductions in staff positions without disrupting offerings.

“This sounds like a heavy lift for a unit that has already seen reductions, and it is,” he said.

In June, the university announced libraries would reduce spending on collections by 8 percent for fiscal year 2024. In the same announcement it was noted that the libraries’ personnel expenses have already been reduced by 7 percent.

“Under its current structure saving $800,000 from the personnel roster would be rather debilitating, but through restructuring efforts, the Dean of Libraries Karen Diaz is confident she can realize these savings without negatively impacting service levels for students, faculty and staff,” Gavin said.

The university’s recommendation also includes an evaluation of the physical footprint of the libraries, but Gavin said it does not include the closing of any library facilities.

The Teaching and Learning Commons, a unit that provides broad services including classroom support, multimedia production and course and curriculum design support, will have many of its functions moved to other units.

Several positions for instructional designers and multimedia specialists will be moved to the WVU Online unit, as well as micro-credentialing and its related positions. WVU Online’s own recommendation letter states “there is confusion regarding who is responsible and accountable for certain activities/services.”

The management of Zoom and related functions and associated personnel will also be transferred from the Teaching and Learning Commons to an as-yet unnamed unit.

WVU Press and the Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative received recommendations to seek external funding. In the case of the Smith unit, the recommendation specifies “a plan to fully shift the unit’s salaries and operating expenses off of University general funds by FY 2026.”

The Women’s Resource Center and LGBTQ+ Center were among six support units that received a recommendation to continue to the current level of activity with no action. The full list of recommendations for all 20 support units can be found on the university Provost’s website.

Gavin apologized for what he called an “unfortunate and unavoidable” pause to the review of academic support units which began in May.

“The portfolio review process ended up demanding the full attention of our office so that we could deliver on the accelerated timeline set by the Board of Governors,” he said. “We had to pause our review of the ASU and recognize that in doing so, we created unrest and uncertainty.”

Reduction in Faculty

Administrators also briefly touched on details of the reduction in force (RIF) process for academic units that were approved to be cut by the Board of Governors on Sept. 15.

Faculty in the affected units will have until Sept. 30 to complete an “affirmation form” stating their desire to be considered for contract retention. WVU General Counsel Stefanie Taylor said faculty will learn whether the position has been eliminated no later than Oct. 16.

“The week of October 23rd, we will have due process hearings or meetings for certain types of faculty and classified staff that will be subjected to a RIF,” Taylor said. “On October 30, we’ll let folks know the results of those due process meetings and then December 1 is the last date by which you could sign and return a severance agreement if you were offered one.”

Gee Responds To Questions At Faculty Senate Meeting

West Virginia University faculty and students had a lot of questions for the university president about looming cuts to programs during Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

West Virginia University faculty and students had a lot of questions about looming cuts to programs during Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

WVU President Gordon Gee delivered a statement addressing what he called misrepresentations of the academic transformation process at the start of the meeting.

“I will not accept the narrative being promulgated that we have mismanaged this university, where we are making it a lesser university,” he said. “That is absolutely far from the truth.”

He dismissed claims that the university’s budgets were designed around the aspiration of growing enrollment, or that the university’s debt load increased by 55 percent. Gee also emphasized that the university has been addressing areas of concern since 2016.

“Almost every program that was put on watch was told three years ago that they were going to be recommended for discontinuance because they were not operating at an optimum level including declining enrollments,” he said. “They had multiple opportunities to bring forth viable options for change.”

After his statement, Gee spent more than a half hour answering questions from faculty members and students, many of whom questioned his assertions.

Asked by one student if he would take a pay cut to help mitigate the budget shortfall, Gee responded that he had not had a pay raise in the 10 years since his return to the university.

“I don’t advertise that I also am a major donor to the university, I have given a substantial amount of money,” Gee said. “During the pandemic, there was a decision made that we would not cut any salaries for the teaching faculty. But we did ask our senior administration and our athletic department – for all of them to cut their salaries. And they did.”

Douglas Terry, an English professor in Beckley, asked how eliminating World Languages would lead to WVU providing a robust liberal arts education.

“We’re in a modern country, we have many modern ways now to teach foreign languages and to teach and to engage in culture,” Gee said. “There is not just one way to salvation, there’s a number of ways of salvation and that’s exactly what we are doing and what we’re going to explore.”

Gee also used the opportunity to discuss the World Language Department’s performance issues.

“They had a student faculty ratio better than the department of surgery and on top of it, they said, ‘Well, we’re making $800,000.’” he said. “That is false, from the very start, because what they’re doing is they’re counting student hours. That is someone else’s money.”

Mathematics professor Ela Celikbas asked about the impact of the proposal to cut the university’s math PhD, particularly on math education.

“Mathematics is critical to our sciences, but it doesn’t mean that we need to do it the way that everyone else does it,” Gee said. “The fundamental issue is, math is critical. But not every aspect of mathematics in this state at this university is critical.”

The remainder of the meeting was focused on the details of the reduction in force and non renewal process if the Board of Governors votes Friday to approve cuts to programs.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Board of Governors released an open letter jointly with Gee reiterating many of the points he made during the Faculty Senate meeting.

WVU Alumni Rally Against Cuts, Pledge To Stop Giving

Following in the footsteps of current students, West Virginia University alumni came together in front of the university’s student union in Morgantown Saturday to rally against the proposed cuts to programs.

Logan Shamberg is a software engineer who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. He helped organize the rally and said he and alumni are done giving to the university.

“We want to educate alumni about where their money’s been going,” Shamberg said. “If WVU doesn’t have its house in order, why should alumni support it?”

Shamberg said financial pressure is a tactic to try and stop future cuts. The university Board of Governors will vote on the currently proposed cuts Friday. Shamberg believes that the board and administration will ultimately do what they want.

“But now they’re having to do it in full view,” he said. “These are people who are not used to scrutiny. We’ve got some very passionate alumni who are looking at this process. If they want to do this, they’re going to do this with the world watching, and we will be sure to announce to the world what they do. So maybe they will think twice next time they decide to try cutting whatever programs are on the chopping block next year.”

Cuts to Academic Support Units are expected to be announced next week, with program reviews set to take place at WVU’s Beckley and Keyser campuses early next year.

During the rally, third generation WVU alumnus Walt Auvil questioned why the West Virginia University Foundation he donated to wasn’t being used to bridge the university’s $45 million budget gap.

“We’re saving it for a rainy day,” he said. “The students and the professors that are affected feel like it’s raining. So if we’re not going to use it for this, what is it for?”

At the presentation of the university’s budget during the June meeting of the Board of Governors, it was outlined that the Foundation will contribute $33 million in “one-time-use resources.”

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, leads attendants in renditions of “Solidarity Forever” and “Country Roads” at the alumni rally in Morgantown Sept. 9, 2023.

Auvil also questioned the role of debt and bonds issued for building projects in creating the budgetary deficit.

“What is the percentage of this debt that is debt service on the bonds that were very ill advisedly floated to build buildings that we didn’t need?” he said. “And what about the bondholders? Why is there never a discussion about the people that hold the bonds, the banks, the other financial institutions that hold the bonds that we’re being held over a chopping block for? Why are they not part of the conversation about who can take a cut, can stand to take a cut?”

Many of those present at the rally said that the cuts felt personal.

“First off, many of us have spent a lot of money already here in West Virginia University, on our degree programs, as well as donors, but we also have kids,” said Carisa Collins. She holds two WVU degrees and also helped organize the rally. Collins is concerned her child won’t have access to the same opportunities she had when she attended WVU.

“This is a watershed moment in higher education, where the sorts of cuts that are occurring will take away opportunities that made going to university so important,” she said. “Getting an education at a university like West Virginia University is an extraordinary gift, you have a chance to take courses that you never even dreamed of taking.”

Collins reiterated the unique position alumni have to put financial weight behind their opposition to the proposed cuts.

“We have the opportunity to stop giving and tell the foundation, tell the board of governors in a very unique way that we are done,” she said. “We are done donating to a university whose administration is so fiscally irresponsible, that it feels like our children don’t deserve the intensity of instruction in foreign languages, in mathematics, in creative arts, design, you name it. We deserve all of it and that’s the future we were donating towards. If the university isn’t willing to support that sort of a future we are done giving.”

Staffing Infrastructure Jobs And Olympic Dreams On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, our radio series “Help Wanted: Understanding West Virginia’s Labor Force” continues as Curtis Tate takes a look at federal and state perspectives on the problem of finding enough workers with the skills for new infrastructure jobs.

Also, an international volleyball tournament is taking place at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center this week and West Virginia University faculty vote against the university’s proposed cuts to programs.

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