MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University began in-person for some programs August 19, by August 26 all first year students and graduate students were in classrooms or in clinical settings. The Morgantown campus went to online instruction September 8 following a spike in COVID positive students and fears of increased spread from a series of large house parties.
Officials say the public health situation will be re-evaluated on September 23 and announcement will be made if in-person learning will resume on Monday, September 28 as planned.
As a result, dozens of students have faced sanctions, up to and including expulsion for COVID conduct violations.
WVU president Gordon Gee told the board that the vast majority of students on campus understand the purpose of the guidelines and follow them. He added that during this time staff and faculty should monitor the mental well being of students.
“We know the in-person learning experience is important,”Gee said,”Many young people nationwide have found their mental health suffering profoundly during the pandemic and forced isolation.”
Vice president of strategic initiatives, Rob Alsop provided a COVID case update during the Friday Board of Governors meeting.
“Since July 20, from a student perspective we’ve had 911 positives, however that’s just for our students,”Alsop said,”For our our faculty, since July 20 we have only had 17 positives.”
According to the WVU COVID-19 Dashboard, the cumulative positive rate for students is 2.04 percent and the numbers on quarantine or isolation are falling.
Provost, Maryanne Reed plans a two week delay for the spring semester, but said enrollment numbers for the fall semester are better than expected.
“Our overall enrollment is down just three percent, which is a relatively small decrease under these challenging circumstances,” Reed said,”Graduate enrollment is up slightly and enrollment in exclusively online programs is up 17 percent.”
While WVU leadership has focused on returning to the classroom this fall, they are still caring for students infected with the virus, conduct enforcement and improving online learning.
Reed says enrollment for the spring semester will be delayed two weeks and they plan to use lessons learned from this fall, public health data and expert advice before announcing the method of delivery for the spring semester.
“We’re being careful not to rush into that decision,”Reed said,”To make sure we have as much information as possible about the public health situation in the spring.”
In an effort to preserve operating cash, the BOG was asked to allow a reimbursement measure. The measure could allow the university to issue $20 million in bonds if cash reserves for capital projects run low.
Despite the pandemic and constant changes the research program at WVU set a record last fiscal year and on pace to set another record this year.
“Last fiscal year which ended in July the university had its’ best ever record in funded research activity with $190 million in sponsored research,”Reed said,”Our number were up in July and August.”
The Board of Governors meeting will be held on November 6.