WV Council for Community and Technical College Education to hold emergency meeting over Southern's governance issues – WV MetroNews

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education will host an emergency meeting Monday morning in connection with governance issues at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Logan.

According to the agenda, the meeting changed from a special meeting to an emergency because since the original meeting notice was posted “new and significant developments have arisen that raise additional and serious concerns regarding the overall governance and operational stability of the institution. In light of these developments, the Council finds it necessary to expand the scope of its discussions to include broader governance issues and institutional oversight.”

The council said it will convene the emergency meeting “due to the urgent nature of these concerns and out of a belief that further delay could result in imminent and substantial harm to the institution and its ability to effectively serve its students, faculty, and staff.”

Last month, Southern’s BOG, on recommendation from the office of Chancellor Sarah Armstrong Tucker, voted to limit Southern President Pamela Alderman’s powers over the school.

“The decision was made by the chancellor’s office, and they made recommendations, and we followed the recommendations,” Jarrod Fletcher, chair for Southern’s BOG said.

The vote came after West Virginia Community and Technical College System launched an investigation last August. There were allegations were made against Alderman. Some of those include, Alderman allegedly purchasing a luxury vehicle in 2023, five employee grievances being filed and the state higher education office receiving anonymous complaints about Alderman and Southern’s BOG.

Alderman, who has been president since May 2020, told MetroNews last month that she was shocked when the decision was made to limit her powers.

“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.

The agenda for Monday’s emergency meeting says the state council will get an update relating to the governance of the college and they may find out a possible resolution for the council exercising its right to address the ongoing governance issue.

The council may go into executive session to obtain legal advice on available options to address these issues.

The meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.