MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Governor Jim Justice signed a bill lessening the authority of the state Higher Education Policy Commission.
The legislation, HB 2815, exempts West Virginia University, Marshall University and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine from some of the HEPC’s oversight.
Aside from avoiding potential fees from the commission, the three schools will have more governance over operations, including hiring and firing.
WVU President Gordon Gee pushed for the legislation amid a threatened budget cut that could reduce the university’s funding by up to $30 million.
“This bill went through the House and the Senate with only six dissenting votes,” Gee said at the governor’s ceremonial signing of the legislation Tuesday.
Governor Justice signed the legislation in Stewart Hall on WVU’s downtown campus Tuesday, April 25.
“It gives them the power to make real decisions and to move us forward as they should,” remarked the Governor.
Gee, Marshall University President Jerome Gilbert and West Virginia Osteopathic Medicine President Michael Adelman joined Justice for the bill’s signing.
“I think it’s great that WVU, the Osteopathic School and Marshall can come together and support higher education and have our partners in the governor’s office and in the legislature,” Gilbert added.
According to a joint statement from all three university presidents, “This action puts West Virginia in line with many other states who have given their large public universities greater autonomy as state funding for those universities has declined.”
Higher education leaders have said the bill gives more flexibility in decision making at the local campus and will reduce bureaucracy and increase efficiency.
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