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WHEELING -- Alumni of West Virginia University and other stakeholders in the institution's future are concerned about the competitive viability the state's flagship university and its graduates will have in the face of looming cuts to a number of programs.
A grassroots effort by some WVU alumni is making its way across the state this week to gather and share ideas with others who are interested in helping to have a voice in the university's future.
Create West Virginia, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the state's innovation economy, hosted a meeting Wednesday night at the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling.
This was one in a series of meetings titled "Create West Virginia Visioning Sessions for a Future WVU."
The first session was held in Charleston on Monday night with about 20 people in attendance. Another meeting is slated to take place in Martinsburg tonight. A final meeting will take place in Morgantown on Sept. 6.
Declining enrollment at WVU has led to a $45 million budget deficit, and earlier this month, school officials proposed sweeping cuts to degree programs in its Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, along with the elimination of a PhD program in math and a master's degree program in creative writing.
The proposed cuts reportedly have generated outrage among many students, alumni and faculty members. While the situation remains fluid and the budget shortfall will still need to be addressed with final action by the board of governors at WVU, Create West Virginia is hoping to hear from people throughout the state and to have a voice in the matter before any final decisions are made.
Rebecca Kimmons and Dan Page of Create West Virginia - both 1971 graduates of WVU's School of Journalism - led the discussion in Wheeling on Wednesday night in the library's auditorium. A few people attended in person, while another handful participated online. Very few of those who provided input - aside from the presenters and Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio - were WVU alumni.
However, those who voiced opinions during the session expressed concerns about the need for programs such as those offered through the foreign language department and asserted the need for these and other liberal arts courses for people seeking jobs in a global economy.
Kimmons noted the group was formed in 2007 with an emphasis in keeping the state and its graduates on the competitive edge in the "new economy."
The "new economy" is an actual term for an economy that is built on knowledge, technology and education - a "knowledge-based economy" as opposed to a "labor-based economy," according to Kimmons.
"For better or for worse, globally, the United States is in the information economy, not the labor economy," she said. "There are many people - especially in our state of West Virginia - who have been laborers. We're a blue collar state. We've provided labor to power the United States. But now everything is shifting."
Since 2007, Create West Virginia has worked to "sound the call" about this shift that has been well underway in other parts of the nation and around the world, Kimmons said, noting that West Virginians have as much ability and talent to make change as anyone else.
"The innovators are the job creators," Kimmons said, indicating that West Virginia needs to be on the cutting edge of entrepreneurial endeavors, not in last place as it has been in the past.
The proposed "obliteration" of programs and curriculum choices WVU seems like a giant leap backwards in the face of this goal, participants argued.
"A lot of people are in the dark about what's going on," Fluharty said. "I think a lot of blame can go across the board, whether it's WVU for the lack of communication to the general public and to alumni like myself and others, and also the legislature."
Fluharty, Minority Whip of the West Virginia House of Delegates, said the state legislature flatlined funding to WVU in recent years, which has also contributed to the problem as much as the falling enrollment.
"Quite frankly, if we would look at the numbers that are out there right now, if we had been funding higher education at WVU - particularly like we had been in years past - the deficit of $45 million that they're now facing would look more like $7 million or $8 million," Fluharty said.
Fluharty said leaders are trying to frame West Virginia as being prepared to be a player in the global economy, thanks to the type of education offered at its flagship university.
"I feel like what we're doing now - through the treatment from the legislature to the mismanagement, quite frankly, of what's going on at WVU is something that showcases to the world that maybe we're not as prepared as we'd like to be or as much as we tell the world we are," Fluharty said. "Going forward, that causes, in my opinion, chaos and confusion. It doesn't prepare our students in our flagship university for today's economy.
"It looks and feels second-rate."
Fluharty indicated he saw that WVU President E. Gordon Gee was entertaining crowds at the Greenbrier earlier in the day.
"Which is interesting, because he didn't seem to be in the Legislature very often this past session advocating for funding for West Virginia University," Fluharty said.
Gee had projected growth in enrollment at WVU prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The struggling economic climate, the political culture war and availability of online education reportedly have all had an impact on the shrinking enrollment numbers at WVU and at other universities across the nation.
Fluharty added that the state recently provided $45 million from surplus tax dollars to Marshall University for cyber security.
"However, we couldn't find $45 million for West Virginia University, despite the fact that we have 'record surpluses,'" Fluharty said. "I think there has been a marked kind of culture in the Legislature that has decreased funding to higher education in general, decreased funding to public education in general and that has been going on for years."
The situation at WVU is a byproduct of a legislative culture where an emphasis is not on education, Fluharty said.
Kimmons said Create West Virginia plans to continue "taking the temperature" on this issue during its upcoming stops around the state. It will offer a report to the WVU Board of Governors on Sept. 8.