West Virginia University will benefit from $2 million in funding that U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., added to legislation to renovate the campus building that will house the university’s forensic identification and investigative science research and academic programs.

“The demand for highly trained forensic specialists is growing at an incredible pace. WVU ’s specialized identification forensics program is helping to answer the call and earn West Virginia a prominent role in national crime investigation efforts. The burgeoning program’s education, research, and training components are preparing the country’s next generation of forensics experts,”Byrd said.

Byrd added the $2 million for renovations to WVU ’s Oglebay Hall, the future home for the Forensic Identification and Investigative Sciences Program, to federal appropriations legislation recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. This builds upon $3.25 million that Byrd added to past legislation for the project. The upgraded space is needed to accommodate the explosive growth in the Forensic Identification Program.

“WVU’s forensics program has grown from its first graduating class of three students in 2001 to more than 500 forensics science majors this year. This funding for renovations to Oglebay Hall will allow forensics classes, currently taught at several different locations across the WVU campus, to be consolidated in one building. The significant growth and success of the program has created a need for centralized, modernized facilities,”Byrd said.

WVU became the first university in the world to offer a specialized fingerprint identification undergraduate degree when it partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg in 1997. The program, housed in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, places particular emphasis on forensic and investigative science, and is complemented by a separate degree program in biometrics in the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

“Forensics and biometrics have proved to be valuable tools for law enforcement in solving crimes and identifying criminals. The specialized forensic training that I have helped to make available at West Virginia University ensures that graduates are a hot commodity in today’s competitive job market. The job opportunities at the FBI CJIS facility and the Biometrics Fusion Center in Harrison County are allowing WVU forensics and biometrics students to launch their careers in the Mountain State,”Byrd said.

The bill that includes the WVU funding now goes to the Senate for approval.