LOGAN, W.Va. –Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College President Pamela Alderman’s will have very limited power over decisions for the college because of a recent vote made by the Board of Governors.
Alderman, who has been president since May 2020, said that she was shocked when the decision was made at their March 19th meeting.
“I was quite surprised because I was not sure of what was going on, no one had approached me before the meeting, and I was just very very surprised,” she said.
She said she was mainly shocked because she has done everything to help the college over the last couple of years.
She said that for that last seven straight semesters enrollment has gone up for the university and she also helped grow the Early College Academy, that allows high school juniors and seniors complete a degree before their 20, from 10 participates to almost 500 students.
“That’s what we’re all about, we’re about the students, we’re not about individual personalities or that type of thing, we’re here to serve the students and let them have the best quality education, affordable, accessible education,” she said. “That’s what were at Southern, that’s what I’ve been about.”
Jarrod Fletcher, Chair for the college’s BOG, said that the decision was made because the vice chancellor for the West Virginia Community and Technical College System, Chris Treadway made the recommendation at the board’s meeting.
“The decision was made by the chancellor’s office, and they made recommendations, and we followed the recommendations,” he said.
The recommendation came from a list of allegations were found against Alderman by Treadway after an investigation was launched in August 2024. Some of those allegations include, the president allegedly purchasing a luxury vehicle in 2023, five employee grievances being filed, the Higher Learning Commission receiving anonymous complaints about Alderman and the BOG and Southern had posted on their Facebook an image detailing a no confidence vote in the board of governors.
Alderman said that she has spoken out against these allegations before the meeting last week, and they have been found with no merit.
Fletcher further explained that one of the things that went into the decision was that the chancellor’s office made the recommendation to not renew President Alderman’s contract after it expires at the end of June.
He said they believed it would be better for them to have control over decisions that are made for the college.
“We just felt it best that we be in control as much as possible until a new president is found or signed,” Fletcher said.
Along with Alderman’s reduced power over the institution, an independent investigation will be conducted of the operational aspects of the president and the board of governors.
Alderman said that this investigation will be welcomed by her.
“I welcome an independent investigation, and hope that can be done very soon so that it can lay a lot of this to rest,” she said.
The investigation would look into the colleges accounting practices, human resources practices, Information Technology, admissions and more.
Chris Gray, Classified Staff Representative for the board was tasked by Fletcher to find three independent sources to do the investigation.
There’s no indication when that investigation will begin.