(WVU Photo)
West Virginia University released a statement from President Gordon Gee based on his prepared remarks to members of the Faculty Senate about misrepresentations related to ongoing Transformation efforts during a Monday (Sept. 11) meeting at the College of Law.
“Since my arrival at West Virginia University, I have spoken consistently about three critical missions we must address as a university community.
One, we would put our students first.
Two, we would be a fiercely land-grant university.
And three, we would act as One WVU.
I also emphasized we would focus within our four pillars of Education, Healthcare, Prosperity and Purpose. Over the last decade, we have done that.
Today I want to focus instead on some of the misrepresentations that have been circulating of late.
• Yes, I had an aspirational systemwide enrollment goal of 40,000. Never, however, did that aspirational number affect bricks-and-mortar decisions. A simple fact: we have not made a building decision based on a theoretical number.
• And keep in mind, despite challenging enrollment trends, West Virginia University has consistently gained market share — plus we are gaining ground in retention and graduation rates.
• Did the pandemic affect our goals? Of course, it did.
• But let me be clear: We did not build budgets around aspirational goals. Nor did our debt load increase by 55%. Please stop citing erroneous information.
• Another thing to keep in mind: the University...
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