by Barbara Evans Fleischauer
The term “flagship” originally described the most important ship in a fleet of vessels. It’s also used to rate universities. Annually, several groups list one or two flagship universities per state, usually the oldest, largest and most selective.
We are proud that West Virginia University has been chosen as our flagship. Since 2016, WVU has also been the only R-1 institution in West Virginia, which designates the top research colleges and universities in the country. Only 146 out of 3,900 institutions merit the R-1 honor.
WVU’s economic crisis threatens both rankings, and constitutes an economic crisis for the state, since WVU, according to Zippia, is the state’s largest employer.
Higher education is valuable to our state for creating critical thinkers to help solve the problems of the future and creating paths for individual self-improvement. I know that I’ve been enriched personally and professionally by my WVU education and so have members of my family who became respected teachers, musicians and scientists after graduating from WVU.
The WVU administration’s “spin” on the $45 million in cuts this year — and the potential ongoing $75 million in cuts in future years — is that WVU is undergoing a “transformation” that will have positive impacts in five to 10 years. Most people I’ve talked to are not excited about this transformation.
Instead, there is fear, anxiety and the beginnings of an exodus of talented and committed people: Some of our best and brightest are already gone. People are worrying about salary cuts, car and house payments, and how quickly they’ll have to pivot if they receive word of their termination.
Already, 135 people have received notices that they will no longer be employed: 38 were faculty, 19 were classified staff and 77 were non-classified staff.
Reductions in programs took place in several departments this past spring:
- Education — Master’s level certification and STEM programs no longer exist, despite a teacher shortage in West Virginia approaching 1,500.
- English — Over 20 sections of composition, where students get individualized writing instruction, were phased out.
- Business — The respected Bureau of Business and Economic Research, which shares important emerging trends with the Legislature and business leaders, has been reduced to one employee.
- Foreign Languages — Many upper-level language classes have been eliminated, including, of all things, Russian.
WVU administration recently announced a Portfolio Review process for the Morgantown campus. Nearly half of all programs are “under review”: 25 of 52 units (48%) and 111 of 238 programs (47%). These reviews affect 33% of students and 48% of full-time faculty.
The West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy has documented that reduced investments in higher education in West Virginia have been occurring over decades. This trend is particularly harmful in a state that ranks last in educational attainment, with the lowest shares of individuals with associate degrees and those with bachelor’s degrees at 20.6%, according to WalletHub.
Rather than casting blame, I’d rather focus on solutions. It seems obvious. The governor and leaders of the Legislature have boasted our budget surplus is over $1 billion. We must demand that part of the surplus be used to stabilize higher education funding.
The bleeding and the predictable ripple effects must be stopped. All of us who benefit from the hope that higher education brings our community and state, and who want to keep our children here, need to step up and urge that additional funds be appropriated for higher education through a special session. The time for being quiet and waiting to see what happens is over.
Please, contact the governor and your senators and delegates. Demand that WVU and all of higher education in our state be saved. Filling potholes is important. But so is educating the people who drive on those roads. Our community and state cannot afford further downgrades or mass layoffs.
