MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In his state of the university address, WVU President Gordon Gee identified three of the land-grant school’s priorities in coming months. Gee addressed faculty and staff at the Erickson Alumni Center Tuesday focused on education, health care and state economics.
Tackling education initiatives, Gee touched on recruitment and retention of highly regarded instructors and students. He said what’s evolving on campus will impact elementary and high school education in the state.
“We are training more secondary science and math teachers through our UTeach program. And, through a new alliance with 100Kin10, we have committed to doubling the number of math and science teachers we graduate by 2020,” explained the university president.
Gee referred to professors as WVU’s “rock stars”. He said as they get used to meeting the demands of millennials, they now need to shift focus on today’s teens, Generation Z.
“The latest technology is something they expect and embrace not merely adopt. So, what does this mean for our university? It means even more and faster change, a curriculum flexible enough for constant revision, technology that is on the leading edge. It means a new way of thinking,” Gee commented.
He touted everything from WVU’s classification as an R1 institution based on its high level of research activity to promoting community involvement among students.
“As part of fall 2015 academic courses, our students logged more than 4,000 hours of community service. That is an investment of more than $92,000 into the community and a priceless gain in life experience for our students,” Gee calculated.
In regards to health care, Gee said in his state of the university address, the institution has a responsibility to lead research in prevention and treatment for the medical plights of the Mountain State.
A Heart and Vascular Institute has been launched to combat heart disease in West Virginia. Preventing opioid and opiate addiction and treating addicts is a priority Gee said.
“WVU Medicine is directing its top research, clinical care and outreach leaders to organize resources against prescription medicine abuse and heroin addiction. We are caring for addicted persons and reforming pain care to reduce further abuse. We are treating people on campus and across the state.”
WVU has also partnered with Marshall University to jumpstart health care research and delivery with $1.5 million in projects across the state.
Gee made a bold declaration that the university can and should help reverse the trends that lead to a failing state economy.
Gee announced that the University is in conversations with McKinsey Consulting, through the Center for Big Ideas, on ways to spark an immediate reversal in West Virginia’s economy.
Newly developed SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) teams will lead discussions on campus to generate progress and ideas.
“We will examine everything from how we recruit talent to how we increase student retention to how we simplify business functions. The goal is to identify at least $45 million in cost savings and revenue generation over the next 5 years so we can reinvest those dollars into the work that is mission critical,” stressed WVU’s president.
State of the University addresses at WVU typically take place every October. According to the university, Gee chose a March address identifying priorities prior to a new wave of elected officials representing the state locally and nationally.