MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – During a regular meeting, the West Virginia University Board of Governors received an update about the academic transformation and a new initiative to engage with alumni.
Even before the pandemic, higher education faced many challenges. Smaller high school classes, questions about the value of a college education, the emergence of vocations and rising student debt.
The Office of the Provost led by Maryanne Reed said Education Advisory Board went to work on the task around December of 2020.
“President Gee’s charge that we transform our academic programing and practices to better prepare our students for a changing world,” Reed said. ” And to position the university for success in a challenging education environment.”
The collaboration has identified programs that can be consolidated, and in some cases be discontinued. The process is designed to identify potential improvements and ways to enhance the students experience while recognizing some cost benefits.
“To reduce administrative overhead, to combine the strengths of smaller units by bringing them together to enable them to share expertise and create economies of scale,” Reed said. ” And to create a platform to develop cutting edge inter-disciplinary curricula, research and outreach.”
One of those initiatives is to merge the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. The revamped school will address human development along with physical and mental well-being with the goal of helping people live healthier, more fulfilling lives.
” The two units have also worked together to establish the organizational structure of the new college,” Reed said. ” It will include three schools- the School of Education, the School of Counseling and Well-Being and the School of Sports Sciences.”
The new school is expected to launch in July of 2022 and will be called the College of Applied Human Sciences.
President Gee announced a strategic plan to partner with the estimated 200,000 alumnus around the world. This is a new way to engage with them and find gains for the institution when possible.
“We have trained many talented people at this institution and the opportunity to connect with them more through our alumni efforts is going to make a real difference,” Gee said.
According to Gee, alumni have many contacts, resources and proximity that can help the university grow and improve on the overall experience.
“The new partnership will allow us to fully leverage the power of our alumni,” Gee said. “To tell our story, recruit for us, to engage students and provide opportunities for our alumni to be fully invested.”
The Board of Governors also voted to begin the 30-day comment period on the 2022 10-Year Campus Development Plan Goals and Guiding Principles. The plan will set growth priorities that will help the university reach goals in a changing environment.