MORGANTOWN – WVU’s Board of Governors has selected a new university president and green-lighted start of construction for the new Pride Practice Facility for the Mountaineer Marching Band.
The BOG voted to approve the new president pick during a Thursday executive session and announced the vote Thursday evening. BOG chair Rick Pill said, “At a time when the higher education landscape is changing, we think that this person can best lead West Virginia University – the state’s flagship university – forward and serve as its 27th president.”
Pill said the BOG will announce the identity of the new president after a contract is signed.
MetroNews reported on Friday afternoon that Coastal Carolina President Michael Benson was chosen, based on sources revealing this to columnist Hoppy Kercheval.
Kercheval posted on X, “Interesting side note on WVU’s next president Michael Benson: He is a native of Utah, as is current president Gordon Gee. However, Gee was not involved in the search or the decision.”
Ogden News statehouse reporter Steven Adams reposted Kercheval’s post and added a note that Gee wrote the forward to Benson’s book, “College for the Common Wealth.”
Asked if Kercheval’s report was correct, WVU said on Friday afternoon, “We have nothing to add at this point to last night’s news release.”
House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw and UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes, who was the former dean of the WVU business school, were the other two candidates, Kercheval reported.
Interim Provost Paul Kreider praised the board during the Friday morning BOG meeting. “Thank you so much for your commitment and diligence.” He also thanked the presidential search committee and its chair, Patrice Harris, who also serves as BOG vice chair.
Practice facility
The BOG on Friday morning approved construction of Phase I of the Pride Practice Facility, with this phase budgeted at $1,662,000.
The facility will be constructed at Med Center Field on the Health Sciences campus, along W.Va. 705 next to the Mountaineer Station parking garage.
Phase 1 is creation of an artificial turf field and relocation of the band tower. The field will be named Don Wilcox Field. The practice facility FAQ page calls Wilcox “a dear man whose marching band leadership and legacy are unmatched to this day.”
Construction is scheduled to begin March 1 and expected to be completed in July in time for the start of fall band camp. When the Pride isn’t using the field, WVU said, it will be used for intramural sports.
The site is already lighted for nighttime use.
The FAQ page notes that the College of Creative Arts Development Office and the WVU Foundation began fundraising for the facility nearly five years ago. About $1.25 million has been raised and the money will still support this project in the new location (it was set for a time to be constructed at Mylan Park but WVU announced the relocation to Med Fields in March 2024).
The money raised thus far is in the WVU Foundation account to be used for turf field and facility construction costs, the FAQ page says.
Addressing uncertainty
President Gordon Gee addressed the board about the uncertainty that’s arisen from federal measures to trim the $1.83 trillion deficit and to federal and state measures to dismantle social justice programs that some say lean too far left.
“I want to thank the faculty and staff for their patience as we work through these complex issues that we are seeing at both the state and the national level,” he said. “In these changing times our university appreciates more than ever the loyal support provided by our alumni, faculty, staff and students.”
In this context, Gee reminded the BOG of the mid-February announcement that WVU was reaffirmed as an R-1 university, the highest research ranking.
WVU is one just 187 universities, among 4,500, to attain that designation, he said. In 2023, the year used for the classification, WVU expended more than $246 million on research, with more than $100 million of that from federal agencies.
But on Feb. 7, the National Institutes of Health announced that it will reduce indirect cost recovery at research institutions to a flat 15% from any previously negotiated rates. This affects new grants, as well as existing grants, WVU said.
WVU previously explained that direct research costs cover researcher salaries, student stipends, supplies and some equipment. Indirect costs cover the university’s expenses for heat and air, building maintenance, chemical and radiation safety and disposal, library access, IT access, cybersecurity, human subjects and animal welfare support, centralized research facilities, and the administration and oversight of awards to ensure that funds are spent appropriately and responsibly.
Gee said Friday that WVU leaders are working with the state’s Congressional delegation regarding the cut. “Our university, unlike some, does not benefit from indirect costs.”
WVU projects it would lose about $12 million in research dollars, he said, “which will significantly limit our research enterprise. … We have every confidence that we can make a very strong case” for demonstrating WVU’s unique situation.
