West Virginia

DePaul, West Virginia University Latest Institutions To Face Large Budget Deficits

Published

1 year ago

April 19, 2023

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DePaul, West Virginia University Latest Institutions To Face Large Budget Deficits

Woodburn Corridor at West Virginia College

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DePaul College and West Virginia College are the newest main universities to disclose they’re dealing with giant funds deficits that can require substantial reductions in applications and personnel. The present deficits are projected to be about $56 million at Depaul and $35 million at West Virginia College.

DePaul College

Late in March, DePaul College directors projected that the college was dealing with a $56.5 million funds deficit for the the 2023-24 tutorial 12 months. That quantity was a lot bigger than the estimated $25 million greenback determine that had been circulating amongst DePaul school and employees earlier within the 12 months, based on reporting in The DePaulia, DePaul’s scholar newspaper.

In December, DePaul College President Robert L. Manuel had indicated that the college would take a variety of steps to attempt to carry its funds in line. These actions included implementing a hiring slowdown, limiting discretionary spending, consolidating non-academic departments, delaying or deferring upkeep, restore and renovation initiatives, and spending a further $4 million from the college’s endowment.

In a March 15 replace to the campus, Manuel wrote that the “funds hole requires us to think about price reductions past non-personnel bills, similar to reviewing educating load/scheduling, eliminating at present vacant positions, and the potential of launching a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program for the administration and employees. It’s our full intention to cowl the funds hole by these bigger choices first earlier than contemplating employees reductions, which we completely hope to keep away from.”

Only a few weeks later, on April 4, Manuel revealed that the college’s board of trustees had accredited providing the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program. He estimated that out of almost 1,400 full-time employees and administration, roughly 200 individuals had been eligible for this system.

DePaul, the most important Catholic college within the U.S., is just not making this system accessible to college. The truth is, based on The DePaulia, six time period school members (school who aren’t on the tenure observe) have already been notified that their contracts is not going to be renewed for subsequent 12 months, and extra notifications are anticipated.

Though last selections on the place the remainder of the cuts will probably be imposed are anticipated later this month, inner campus communications reported by The DePaulia prompt that greater than 60% of the cuts will come from tutorial affairs.

DePaul school are annoyed with what they see as hastiness and an absence of transparency within the funds decision-making up to now. “We will’t make selections like these on a dime,” Marcy Dinius, professor of English at DePaul instructed The DePaulia. “60% of this funds reduce is occurring by the very a part of the college that’s purported to attempt to make these sorts of choices on a for much longer timetable, and with a lot, a lot higher deliberation, and positively with way more info than any of us had been given.”

West Virginia College

In March, West Virginia College (WVU) officers reported that the college, which is the state’s land-grant establishment, was dealing with a $35 million funds gap for fiscal 12 months 2024, equal to about 3% of its whole funds. However in addition they predicted that the deficit might develop to as a lot as $75 million over the following 5 years, largely due to projected enrollment declines and persevering with price will increase.

In an interview with the state’s press, WVU President Gordon Gee stated, “We’re attacking the difficulty instantly and vigorously with a view to be sure that we don’t have an enormous drawback. … We all know essentially we’ll have fewer applications and fewer individuals, however we may have a stronger establishment. That’s the challenge.”

WVU has begun to deal with the shortfall by limiting journey, hiring and spending, however Gee acknowledged that extra cost-cutting steps could be required. “We are going to put money into our strengths – each in applications and in expertise. Each unit will look at their priorities to make sure we’re investing correctly. Armed with that knowledge, we additionally might want to make the troublesome determination to cease investing in these issues that not meet our expectations.”

Like scores of different establishments at present affected by funds shortfalls, DePaul and WVU pointed to enrollment declines and disruptions from the pandemic as main contributors to their monetary woes. At DePaul, enrollment has fallen yearly between 2018, when its whole headcount was 22,457, to 2022, when it stood at 20,917, an total 6.8% lower. WVU has seen a ten% enrollment slide since 2015 and predicts it might see and extra lack of as many as 5,000 college students within the coming years.

Concerning the pandemic’s affect, Gee stated, “If I give myself fault, I’d say I didn’t anticipate how rapidly this pandemic might affect the whole lot we had been doing.”

Faculty funds shortfalls have been rife for the reason that pandemic, and whereas the tendency has been to give attention to the existential threats they’ve posed to regional public universities, small personal establishments, and group faculties, it’s now turn into clear that giant analysis universities should not resistant to vital monetary issues. Earlier this 12 months, 4 Huge Ten universities, lengthy amongst greater training’s most well-resourced and influential public establishments, all reported giant funds deficits. It’s a development more likely to proceed.

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West Virginia

West Virginia Academy hosts 3rd Annual Fall Fest

Published

7 hours ago

October 4, 2024

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West Virginia Academy hosts 3rd Annual Fall Fest

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) -Friday afternoon Morgantown’s West Virginia Academy will be throwing it’s Third Annual Fall Fest. The event will take place at the Mon County Event Center, located at Mylan Park. For an event that officially marks the conclusion of the school year’s first term. WVA is the state’s first public charter school and has been recognized for their excellence both locally and nationally; and this afternoon they look forward to giving back to the community that’s helped establish them as one of the best schools throughout the wild and wonderful. The event will feature plenty of fall festivities such as games, pumpkin carvings, and even a scarecrow contest. Leaving school officials like, Heidi Treu, hoping to not only help celebrate the fall season, but also showcase their students in a big way.

” The biggest thing is that we want community members to see what we learn throughout the term. This is a chance for the students to show off . They create games of everything that they’ve learned from science to history, to even math stuff is in there. We like them to show off, but also to have some fun. We’ve got some Scarecrow’s; we’ve got some food. We’ve got some activities obviously, our Book Fair, everything like that. So, it’s really exciting.”

Although this afternoon’s event is completely free, there’s still ways to give back to the educators that put so much in to students everyday.

” Everybody knows that teaching is hard and it is day in, day out, really working hard. This is kind of their reward at the end of the term to get excited to see the kids in a new light. To have fun with the students at the very end of a long term. So, all of the proceeds go directly to our teachers. It goes to our Faculty Senate and just teachers. It’s not for administration or anything else and this is all their idea. They brought it in and anything that you see here when you purchase; it goes directly back into their pockets and in the classrooms.”

Apart of what makes fall fest special for those at WVA is the chance is gives to celebrate their students. Showing them how much they are appreciated and admired.

” It’s the growth of the students, we really have seen our students step up as leaders not only in the community, but in the school. It’s been wonderful to see them grow for these past three years and we can’t wait to see our first graduating class next year and see what they become. It has been really rewarding for me. We have had scarecrows in different areas of the building. Students have been opening doors and getting scared because the older kids like to put them on for the younger kids and scare them. So, I think they’re just excited to see the whole event and come and play. Last year it was very successful, lots of treats, lots of fun activities; and we expecting the same this year.”

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West Virginia

ESPN2 Broadcast Team Announced for West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State

Published

15 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

ESPN2 Broadcast Team Announced for West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State

Mike Monaco and Kirk Morrison will be on the call once again for this week’s West Virginia game against Oklahoma State on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. EST. This is the same broadcast duo that called the Backyard Brawl last month.

If you like offense, this game is likely going to be right up your alley. Oklahoma State does have one of the best running backs in all of college football in Ollie Gordon II although he’s yet to hit his groove. The Cowboys’ passing attack is one of the best in the country with a very experienced Alan Bowman at quarterback and some receivers that have produced at a high level throughout their careers such as Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens, and De’Zhaun Stribling.

West Virginia’s defense has had issues through the first month of the 2024 season defending the pass, allowing over 250 yards per game, but so has Oklahoma State. As a matter of fact, the Cowboys are allowing a full 20 yards more through the air than WVU. Bryan Nardo’s defense hasn’t been able to stop a thing ranking 15th in the Big 12 in pass defense and 16th (dead last) in run defense.

Buckle up folks, this one could feature a ton of yardage and points.

West Virginia

WVU Extension’s Energy Express awarded grant to enhance literacy education in West Virginia

Published

23 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

WVU Extension’s Energy Express awarded grant to enhance literacy education in West Virginia

West Virginia University Extension’s Energy Express program has been awarded a $50,000 Sparking Early Literacy Growth grant, a statewide initiative to enhance literacy instruction for elementary-aged children. The grant was made possible by the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

This funding will kickstart the creation of the Energy Express Literacy Leaders program. The Literacy Leaders program will engage up to 10 site supervisors who are certified teachers in an action research project that focuses on supporting and extending early elementary-aged students’ learning through a literacy activity plan.

“This grant will allow us to review and enhance our high-quality programming and instruction, as well as foster deep learning and creative exploration, thereby closing academic and opportunity gaps,” said Melissa Calabrese, director of Energy Express.

Throughout the grant cycle, Energy Express site supervisors will participate in monthly meetings and enroll in literacy education graduate coursework through WVU to become certified reading specialists. This initiative aims to empower site supervisors, deepen their understanding of effective literacy instruction practices, and foster community engagement and service learning within Energy Express.

Participants also will conduct a research project based on the Energy Express curriculum, looking at specific lesson plans. They will examine the plans to pinpoint activities that are effective and promote literacy, while also suggesting solutions to improve upon the current methods, to create the best possible learning environment. Each participant will cover a specific area of the lesson plan– like writing or art– and present their findings at the annual Energy Express conference next summer.

“Our site supervisors are already extraordinary teachers throughout West Virginia, and with support from this grant, they will become certified reading specialists, not only benefitting Energy Express participants but also their students during the school year,” said Calabrese.

Teachers must have their application endorsed by a school administrator or fellow teacher who will support their professional growth. Throughout the grant, this person will serve as a “thought partner” to exchange ideas and findings. This partnership will facilitate discussions and encourage feedback and research within and beyond their home schools.

Participants in this first cohort will share their findings during the June 2025 kickoff meeting with all Energy Express site supervisors and AmeriCorps members. They can then bring these insights to colleagues in their school to enrich the learning environment.

Energy Express is committed to addressing educational disparities in West Virginia. During the 2022-2023 academic year, only 44% of fourth graders in West Virginia achieved proficient reading levels, highlighting the urgency of comprehensive literacy interventions. This summer, Energy Express is hosting 48 sites in 26 counties, helping an estimated 2,000 children maintain and increase their literacy levels during the summer.

Energy Express is offered in various counties at select locations. To learn more about the program, visit extension.wvu.edu/energy-express. Contact your local WVU Extension office for more information about sites in your area.

If you want to learn more about WVU Extension, visit extension.wvu.edu or follow @WVUExtension on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

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