In their first meeting since acquiring new members, West Virginia Universitys Board of Governors today (Aug. 7) officially welcomed Stephen Goodwin of Mount Alto, John Mattern of Buckhannon and faculty and student representatives Stan Cohen and Chris Gregory to the 15-member panel. The group was sworn in by general counsel Tom Dorer.
Meeting by conference call, new Board Chairman Curtis (Hank) Barnette reviewed committee assignments, operating procedures and meeting schedules for the coming year.
Action items included four property issues:
- Approval of an addendum to the existing lease between WVU Hospitals, Inc. and the BOG to adjust the property boundaries for a planned expansion
- Approval of a property exchange between WVU and the Monongalia County Commission to facilitate the redesign of the visitors access to the Health Sciences Center
- Approval to join a petition to the City of Morgantown to abandon interest in Elmer Prince Drive, near the HSC entrance, and make it the responsibility of those owning contiguous property (Mon County Commission, WVU BOG , Centra Bank and Glenmark).
- Approved the delegation of authority to the president of WVU (or his/her designee) for the execution of all legal documents necessary for property-related issues such as purchase contracts and rights of way, consistent with the master plan.
The board also appointed BOG member Doug Leech to the United Health System Inc. Board of Directors. Leech, president and chief executive officer of Centra Bank in Morgantown, replaces Cathy Armstrong, who resigned in April.
Polly Reynolds of Fayette County was also appointed to the WVU Extension Committee.
In his update to the board, WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. noted WVU s research and sponsored programs funding this past year reached an all-time high of $133.9 million from federal, state, industry and private sources. That figure is up from $88.7 million in FY 2001 , and exceeds the Universitys research goal of $100 million.
Hardesty also reported that WVU is looking at a banner enrollment year, possibly topping the 23,000 mark for the first time since fall 1993. He noted that with a surging enrollment comes challenges, and WVU is experiencing thoseespecially in the housing arena.
“Essentially, University housing is at full capacityand that includes reserving some extended housing spaces within the greater Morgantown community,”he said.
This caused WVU officials to make a decision earlier this month to close University housing and defer a small number of applications until the spring semester, he added, unless the student is a commuting student who already has housing arrangements.
The president also briefed the board on the states plan to cut agency budgets by 10 percent next fiscal year to make up for an expected $200 million shortfall. Hardesty said preliminary work has already begun at WVU to identify reductions.
Hardesty said he and other University officials will give a full scale briefing on WVU ’s enrollment and housing picture next week (Aug. 14) at a press conference.
The board will resume campus meetings Sept. 5-6.