MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University executive staff, including the newly hired provost and vice president of academic affairs, will attend the opening of the 60-day legislative session in Charleston Wednesday.

President Michael T. Benson told members of the Faculty Senate that former WVU chemistry major, PhD recipient from Notre Dame, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw is looking for to meeting the new provost, Beverly Wendland, who is also very accomplished in the field of science and chemistry.

“We’ve been invited to the floor of the House for the State of the State by the Governor, and that’s when the real work begins,” Benson said. “I’ve been through legislative sessions in other states but never here. I’ve heard about it, and I’m bracing myself.”

Benson said they plan to have an active presence through the session to make sure legislators understand and act on their priorities. The team, led by Associate Vice President of Government Relations and Collaboration Travis Mollohan, looks to be very busy through the end of the session.

“Travis and I have adopted a slogan—must be present to win—so we’re going to be up there a lot,” Benson said. “I think it’s really important for us to be visible—we are the chief advocates for the university.”

Mollhan said the university needs more money to address deferred maintenance issues on their campuses. When the legislature allocated $282 million for deferred maintenance on the campuses of higher education, WVU was awarded $46 million that replaced roofs, HVAC systems, elevators, and other critical infrastructure.

An expansion of the WVU School of Medicine is in the conceptual phase, and those plans will be shared with lawmakers.

“Dr. Marsh and Leslie (Miao) are conducting a feasibility study to see what that would look like, so we’ll have more details to share as we conduct that research,” Mollohan said.

Improvements to Hope Coliseum that would include upgrades to the HVAC system and the loading dock. The changes would make the facility usable in all weather conditions and could lead to different events that could draw a regional audience.

“That would allow us to use that venue year-round,” Mollohan said. “For concerts and other things that would not just benefit the university from a revenue perspective, but also the community and the region.”

Mollohan said his team will be working with state officials as federal funds begin to flow into the rural hospital system. There will be opportunities to partner on initiatives that could expand or enhance services as the funds are allocated in the future.

“The state was awarded $199 million in the Rural Healthcare Transformation Fund (RHTF),” Mollohan said. “WVU Medicine and the Health Sciences will be involved in some of those initiatives.”

The 60-day legislative session starts Wednesday.