WVU transition begins to come into focus

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A comprehensive review of programs and personnel is underway at West Virginia University as officials prepare for a $45 million budget cut for next fiscal year.

During a campus conversation earlier this week, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Paula Congelio explained the number will be reached by accessing $24 million in funds from the WVU Foundation to offset expenses and cutting $21 million across the institution.

Paula Congelio

“Those budgets have all been submitted by the units, and we’re rolling them up and preparing our overall budget that we will take to our board of governors for our June board meeting,” Congelio said.

Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Rob Alsop, explained the review is comprehensive, data-driven, thoughtful, and deliberate. But he confirmed that the tough decisions will change the university fundamentally.

“We’re at the point where we’re going to have to start saying “no” to some things that, in an instance where we had more enrollees or more revenues, we might not be doing,” Alsop said. “They’re hard, so there may be some time when you say, gee, why wouldn’t you keep that?” he said.

Rob Alsop

Other cost-cutting measures to be pursued are a building temperature control plan to cut energy costs, the voluntary Work-Time Reduction Program, and quickly identifying reiterations planned over the next year. Alsop said 23 have been approved to participate in the program, and another 83 have expressed interest. Those reductions in labor costs are expected to begin on June 4.

“There is a structure coming from this merger that will really serve ITS well moving forward as an institution,” Alsop said. “So, we’ll be ready very soon to provide additional details about that merger.”

Maryanne Reed

As the program review process continues, options like consolidating colleges and departments are being explored.

“Yes, we’re having conversations; we’re beginning to discuss possible mergers,” Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs for West Virginia University Maryanne Reed said. “Nothing has been decided yet, and there’s nothing to share at this point.”

Vice President for Research at WVU, Fred King, said the university is committed to remaining an R-1 research institution.

As part of increasing competitiveness, the WVU Energy Institute will be divided into the WVU Institute of Sustainability and Energy Research, and the West Virginia Water Research Institute will become a stand-alone entity, according to WVU Vice President for Research, Fred King.

The WVU Institute of Sustainability and Energy Research, led by Sam Taylor, current Assistant to the Director of the WVU Energy Institute, will focus on fossil energy resources and advance the all-of-the-above energy strategy supported by the federal government. The West Virginia Water Research Institute will be led by Paul Ziemkiewicz and will focus on acid mine drainage and extracting rare earth minerals.

Fred King

“It’s focus will be on water and brownfield remediation,” King said. “A major project will continue to be the work of addressing acid mine drainage and exploring processes where we perhaps can recover critical minerals from these waste sources.”

The June Board of Governors meeting is schedule for June 22.





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