MORGANTOWN – Higher education means preparing a strong workforce, four college and university presidents told members of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce on Friday.
It was the last day of the chamber’s annual conference, held at the Greenbrier, and the panel discussion was called Higher Education Driving Change in West Virginia.
The presidents were Ericke Cage, West Virginia State University; T. Ramon Stuart, WVU Tech; Mark Manchin, Glenville State; Josh Baker, Mountwest Community & Technical College.
Stuart said, “We see what the future can be here in West Virginia. The talent is right here but what we have to do is we have meet people where they are and help them go to places they never dreamed of going.
WVU Tech, he said, works with business and industry to establish relationships.
Baker said 80% of students at Mountwest are on workforce pathways. Enrollment is up more than 10% for the second year in a row, and this year is up close to 20%.
“We know that our community needs to get to work and it’s not going to happen through traditional means,” he said. The state will need about a 50% increase in skilled workers, and we won’t get there with the traditional one- to two-year vocational pathway.
They need to recruit people who are not going to college, he said, possibly not working, and pay them during the training process. The state’s Learn & Earn program is helping in that area.
Another positive, he said, is the dual-credit program the Legislature passed to allow high schoolers to earn college credits. This year, 180 students are participating with Mountview. “The stories coming out of this are amazing. They are walking out of their high school much more prepared to contribute and be helpful and get jobs.”
WVSU is the state’s other land-grant university – along with WVU – and Cage said they are embarking on their new five-year strategic plan to “become more nimble, more connected to the needs of the workforce.”
WVSU has a three-part mission, he said: teaching, research and community engagement. “How can we transform our institution to make sure that we can meet the needs of our workforce?”
They are focusing on high-demand fields, he said: cybersecurity, nursing, education and agriculture.
Manchin said healthcare and education are two of the most important issues for the people of the state and Glenville’s College of Health Sciences focuses on ensuring healthcare in rural West Virginia through its training. They’ve learned that for the 13 rural counties in the center of state, healthcare workers trained at Glenville will go back to the rural counties to work; if they go north or south for training, they won’t come back.
So they’re diligently working on “providing the training necessary for these young men and women to stay in their community and make a positive difference.”
All four talked about increasing the state’s college-going rate. Manchin said, “It’s a business model. Give the customers what they want.”
Higher education Chancellor Sarah Tucker moderated the discussion and turned to the audience members to close the segment. Students don’t choose a school because of a football team or a high-quality dorm, she told them.
“They tell me that they want a job,” and enough money to be better off than their families, and security. “We need you to stand with higher education” and tell colleges what you need for your workforce.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
