Tag: WVU Tech

Meeting Set on Group's Plans for College for Ex-Foster Kids

A meeting is set on a nonprofit group’s plans to start a college in southern West Virginia for students transitioning out of foster care.WVU Tech in Montgomery, West Virginia

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery. The campus is becoming available because West Virginia University is completing the move of WVU Tech from Montgomery to Beckley this year.

Olathe, Kansas-based KVC Health Systems wants to use the campus. The group specializes in behavioral health care and child welfare. West Virginia legislative lobbyist Tommy Bailey has helped KVC during negotiations with WVU.

While many states offer college tuition waivers or some financial assistance to former foster children, dedicating a college to them would appear to be unique.

Bailey says there’s “nothing like this that we can find.”

WVU Tech Campus Could Become College for Former Foster Kids

The West Virginia University Institute of Technology campus could become a college for former foster care children.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports KVC Health Systems is hoping to turn the Montgomery campus into a college for children who have aged out of the foster care system.

Tommy Bailey, a lobbyist at Spilman, Thomas & Battle, has helped the Kansas-based nonprofit with negotiations to lease the campus then purchase it.

Bailey says WVU and KVC Health Systems have reached a general agreement, but no lease-purchase agreement has been signed yet.

WVU plans to announce more details of the agreement Wednesday.

If an agreement is reached soon, Bailey says KVC would hope to attract a group of about 50 students to the college within a year.

With WVU Coming, Investors Looking at Beckley Properties

With West Virginia University opening its Beckley campus this fall, investors from near and far have been looking at potential properties in the city.

Lisa Armes, a Century 21 First Choice real estate agent, tells the Register-Herald that she has been receiving calls for the past six months about properties in the area from local clients and those as far away as California.

Armes says she believes the recent spike in interest is because of WVU-Tech’s upcoming arrival, and she looks forward to seeing the area grow.

She says people are interested in opening restaurants, antique stores, bookstores and bars in the Beckley area.

She currently has eight properties available for lease, and she is working with three strong leads to fill those vacancies.

Tomblin Signs Bill Allowing WVU Tech to Leave Montgomery

A 120 year-old institution will soon be relocating in southern West Virginia after receiving the go-ahead from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. 

Tomblin has signed a bill that allows the West Virginia University Institute of Technology to move from Montgomery in Fayette County to Beckley in Raleigh County, taking over the campus of the former Mountain State University. 

House Bill 4310 was approved by lawmakers in early March.

In August, the West Virginia University Board of Governors voted to approve the relocation, citing concerns over building infrastructure on the campus and its inability to attract new students. But state code required the headquarters be located in Montgomery.

The bill changes that requirement, taking effect in early June.

WVU has said they intend to offer freshmen courses at the Beckley campus in the fall of 2016, transitioning its entire academic offerings in the fall of 2017.

Lawmakers representing the Upper Kanawha Valley have argued the move would devastate the economy of the region, especially the city of Montgomery and its 1,700 residents.

WVU Tech Relocation Bill Approved in Senate

The West Virginia University Institute of Technology has been given the legislative go ahead to move its campus out of Montgomery to Beckley and the former campus of Mountain State University. Senators approved a bill Monday allowing for the relocation.

Senators voted 22 to 12 to allow WVU Tech to move from Montgomery in Fayette County where it’s been located for 120 years.

The move comes as a result of a vote from West Virginia University Board of Governor’s back in August. The board says the infrastructure on the Montgomery campus is in disrepair and the school is struggling financially to stay open after continuous losses of enrollment.

Senator Greg Boso from Nicholas County is a Tech graduate who supported the move.

“It hurts me to know what my Legislature has done to my college, to my West Virginia Tech, especially over the last several years,” said Boso.

“We have not increased any funding to West Virginia Tech. [Study} work done in 2007 and some additional work in 2011 said you’ve got to put some money in us to allow us to survive, to allow us–more importantly rather than surviving–to thrive. We didn’t do it…but I do believe we need to preserve the institution of West Virginia University Institute of Technology,” he continued.

Senator Jeff Mullins, who lives in Beckley and represents the district that will soon house the university, also spoke in favor of the bill. Mullins said the move will allow Tech to collaborate with other higher education institutions in the area, like New River Community College, Concord University and Bluefield state.

But Senator Bill Laird issued a word of warning to those institutions. Laird said the move to Beckley will increase competition for students and tuition dollars.

In addition, Laird said moving the campus will economically devastate the community of Montgomery which is made up of just 1700 residents.

Senator Ron Miller joined Laird in speaking against the legislation.

“This is a bill that should make all of us very sad for the history of a fine school. It’s a bill that should make all of us very sad for the history of a town. It should make all of us very sad for a region of the state,” said Miller.

“The outcome of this legislation–if it passes– is in some ways the story that’s taking place in all of southern West Virginia. By passing this bill we are saying we’ve forgotten the roles played by regions, particularly in the southern [part of the state], to create what was once a great economic engine of West Virginia. Passage of this bill is passage saying that the contributions of those folks of yesterday mean nothing to us today,” he added.

After a change in the Senate, the bill heads back to the House of Delegates. 

House Approves Bill Allowing WVU Tech's Relocation to Beckley

Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill, 67-32, on Monday, Feb. 22, that would allow the West Virginia University Institute of Technology to move from its current location in Montgomery.

House Bill 4310 would change state code to allow WVU Tech to move its headquarters from Montgomery to Beckley, less than 50 miles away into neighboring Raleigh County. But this short move has caused a big debate about whether the town of Montgomery can sustain itself after losing the university.

In September last year, WVU’s Board of Governors voted unanimously in support move, saying that the Montgomery campus was no longer financially viable, and the move to Beckley was the only option to salvage the shrinking program.

But today’s decision was much more divisive, as delegates from both sides of the aisle rose in opposition and support of the bill. Delegate Mick Bates represents Raleigh County, which would benefit from the move.

“This is not about Fayette County. This is not about Raleigh county, or Kanawha, or even Mercer,” Bates said. “It’s about students, present and future. This is not about any county or institution of higher education. It’s about allowing WVU Tech to survive, and to place it in a position to thrive.”

Montgomery is a community of about 1,700. Delegate David Perry represents the district in Fayette County and says the decline of WVU Tech is due to improper funding and a lack of support from the university’s administration.

“Is this a move to create a two-state institution in the state of West Virginia with so many small institutions we have the serve students across this state? Possibly so. I can’t say,” Perry said. “I can tell you there’s an economic impact in Montgomery, there’s an economic impact to the upper Kanawha Valley, and there’s an impact to the students WVU Tech serves, and the ability to increase those number of student has been hampered and hindered by the instability created by WVU and the press over the last few years.”

The bill now moves to the Senate.

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