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WVU Faculty Senate questions leadership team on RIF process as notices begin to go out – WV MetroNews

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WVU Faculty Senate questions leadership team on RIF process as notices begin to go out – WV MetroNews


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Reduction in force notices have started going out at WVU, and the RIF process was at the front of most minds at Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

Chair Frankie Tack choked up during her discussion of the topic, saying a friend and neighbor of hers had just received notice.

“This is such a difficult time for those professors and their families,” she said. “We also want to acknowledge the colleagues and the students that are grieving with you and who will miss you for a long time to come. We hope for all of you that you can find moments of solace amidst the storm.”

Provost Maryanne Reed told the senators there was one bit of good news: The number of faculty to be subject to RIF has declined by more than 50%, from 143 to 69.

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“There were a significant number of faculty that voluntarily retired or resigned from the university,” she said. “I realize that is of little solace for those faculty members that will be losing their positions.”

Her team is now working on the program review process timeline for WVU Extension and the regional campuses in Beckley and Keyser. The process will be slightly different, she said, for the two campuses because they are smaller and have their own missions and expectations. They plan to lay out the process no later than the Nov. 17 Board of Governors meeting.

President Gordon Gee also addressed the Senate, standing before the representatives of the faculty that on Sept. 6 approved a no-confidence resolution against him in a 797-100 vote.

“These next few weeks will be challenging for many as we move through this reduction in force process,” he said. It will be difficult for those affected and those who remain.

But he also spoke of what’s ahead, noting that in late September, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities designated WVU as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University, one of just 80 universities to receive that designation.

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“Though we are facing challenging times, these important designations remind us that we are committed to our land grant mission,” he said.

He also had positive news regarding recruitment and retention. Retention of the fall 2023 cohort was 81.8%, up 2.9% and the highest ever except during COVID when they had more lenient policies. And the four-year graduation rate — the rate of those who graduate within four years of starting — is also up; it was 39% in 2014 when he began his second stint as president and is now 50%. For new students, applications are up 7% and admissions are up 7%.

The bulk up the meeting was taken up with a Q&A session for Gee and the leadership team.

General Counsel Stephanie Taylor took a question on how they assure that RIF plans are constructed consistently from college to college. She reminded the senators of the three RIF criteria: performance, knowledge and skills, and seniority.

Each college works with her office to put together its plans, she said, and her team vets the knowledge and qualifications portions to make sure they are objective and verifiable. The plans are also reviewed by the RIF Committee, and the committee sends back questions if needed. “We do review those very, very closely.”

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Gee took a question on how they plan to prevent this being repeated going forward. He said that through this process they want to put themselves into a position to be competitive and grow and invest. “By doing this now we will have put ourselves in a way that we’re not out over our skis.”

Also, he said, the state funding formula will kick in this year, which will be immensely helpful. “I’m very bullish about our opportunities for the future.”

A follow-up question dealt with the $45 million budget deficit. He clarified that the deficit was $35 millon, with $10 million added by what they owed the state for PEIA.

Overall, the $45 million is just 2.5% of WVU’s budget. As such, he said, the deficit was only an accelerant of change. “The reason we’ve been going through this process is the world is changing around us rather dramatically.” But there are never any guarantees of avoiding future problems.

To further address the budget issue, Rob Alsop, vice president for Strategic Initiatives, told the senators that WVU’s new budget model will help in terms of clarity, engagement and transparency. They will look for leading indicators and enhance their reporting on revenues and expenses going forward. More data will be provided more often, and there will be more regular program and administrative reviews to address issues in a timelier fashion and not in the manner of the past few months.

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English Department professor Rose Casey wanted to know about the ripple effects of the RIF process. “Every single person I know is on the market, she said, and every PhD student she knows is also applying elsewhere.

“It’s a pretty horrible place to be right now,” she said. “People are terrified about staying because of the long-term consequences of the instability we are going through right now and the absolutely massive reputation damage that is caused by the extent of these cuts and the way they’ve been carried out.”

Reed told her they simply don’t know right now. “We can’t speak to what we do not know. It’s speculation at this point,” she said. “We do know there will be impacts beyond the personnel decisions that are being made now.”



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Princeton Offensive Line Transfer Will Reed Discusses Visit to WVU, Decision Timeline

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Princeton Offensive Line Transfer Will Reed Discusses Visit to WVU, Decision Timeline


West Virginia still has some work to do in terms of replenishing the offensive line room, and over the weekend, they hosted former Princeton offensive tackle Will Reed for an official visit.

“Coach Bicknell and Coach Dressler were awesome,” Reed told West Virginia On SI. “Coach Bicknell’s experience in the NFL is really impressive, not to mention his college experience. The facilities were some of the best I have seen on any visit. Probably the best. It seems like they are bringing in a lot of talent and want to turn things around quickly. It has given me a lot to think about over the next week or two.”

Reed is also considering Georgia Tech, Nebraska, and Virginia but has also received interest from Arizona, Arizona State, Memphis, Pitt, Stanford, UNLV, and Wake Forest.

Coming out of Eastside Catholic High School as a highly-rated three-star prospect in Sammamish, Washington, Reed originally committed to Cal. He decided to flip his commitment to Princeton, choosing the Ivy League route over offers from Air Force, Army, Colorado, Duke, Hawai’i, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, San Diego State, Tennessee, UNLV, Utah, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, and a few others.

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He will have one year of eligibility remaining. A decision is expected to be made within the next two weeks.

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WVU Today | EXPERT PITCH: WVU paleoclimatologist predicts California fires will become ‘more extreme, more frequent, more widespread’

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WVU Today | EXPERT PITCH: WVU paleoclimatologist predicts California fires will become ‘more extreme, more frequent, more widespread’


Amy Hessl, professor of geography at WVU, said California’s wildfires are expected to continue to be more extreme, more frequent, more widespread and more devastating as air temperatures continue to warm and precipitation becomes more variable.
(WVU Photo)

As the destruction continues with southern California’s wildfires that could be the costliest in U.S. history, one West Virginia University researcher said ongoing warm air temperatures and variable precipitation will lead to even more extreme fires in the future.

Amy Hessl, a geography professor and paleoclimatologist in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has studied the relationship between fire and climate throughout the world, particularly North America, Central Asia and Australia. She attributes the widespread devastation of California’s fires to an unusual weather pattern, known as the Santa Ana or “devil winds,” that are unique to that area.

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Hessl is known for her expertise as a dendrochronologist, a scientist who unravels climate histories and trends through the study of tree ring growth patterns. 

Quotes:

“California’s wildfires are expected to continue to be more extreme, more frequent, more widespread and more devastating as air temperatures continue to warm and precipitation becomes more variable. This creates alternating wet periods when fuels can build up, with extreme dry and hot conditions conducive to fire activity.

“Santa Ana winds, or ‘devil winds,’ are unique to southern California. They are an unusual weather pattern that gets set up when there is a high pressure in the desert of the Southwest and a low pressure over the Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles.

“Air will move from high to low pressure and, in the case of the Santa Anas, this means that really hot, dry air moves from the desert up over a series of mountains. Every time that air descends towards the coast, it gets hotter due to an increase in pressure. Many fire scientists and firefighters believe that the Santa Anas produce the most extreme fire conditions anywhere in the world.

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“Long records of past fires — that you can get from old trees that survived past fires, but recorded scars — can tell us a lot about how often fires occurred in the past, prior to European colonization, and what these records often tell us is that fires of pre-colonial periods were, in many cases, less extreme but more frequent than they are today.

“This change that we have seen in many places in the world is caused by the interaction between human-caused climate change, the history of land management leading to more abundant and more connected fuels, and people moving to the wildland urban interface — in other words —putting themselves in the way of fire.” Amy Hessl, professor of geology, WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

West Virginia University experts can provide commentary, insights and opinions on various news topics. Search for an expert by name, title, area of expertise or college/school/department in the Experts Database at WVUToday. 

-WVU-

js/1/14/25

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MEDIA CONTACT: Jake Stump
Director
WVU Research Communications
304-293-5507; Jake.Stump@mail.wvu.edu

Call 1-855-WVU-NEWS for the latest West Virginia University news and information from WVUToday.



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Pennsylvania man sentenced for COVID fraud while living in WV – WV MetroNews

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Pennsylvania man sentenced for COVID fraud while living in WV – WV MetroNews


CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to federal probation after fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funding while living in Mason County.

Scott Christie, 38, of Petrolia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to four years of federal probation for theft of public money, property, or records.

Christie fraudulently obtained $24,388 in unemployment benefits and COVID supplementary funds while living in Leon.

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Christie obtained funds in a fraudulent manor on two separate occasions. Between both February 29, 2020, to August 22, 2020, and between February 27, 2021, to August 14, 2021, Christie fraudulently applied for unemployment benefits through WorkForce America. During these periods, Christie submitted 50 total weekly certifications without disclosing his employment. Christie received 52 unemployment benefits.

Christie has been ordered to pay $24,228 in restitution.

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