Program cuts recommended at WVU Tech; personnel not impacted

Apr. 17—After a lengthy academic review, six majors could be cut from West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

WVU Tech President T. Ramon Stuart said the suggested cuts, if implemented, will not result in cuts to personnel.

"When you look at our preliminary recommendations, we believe that we can structure our institution in a way that does not require any personnel cuts on the academic side," Stuart said.

He added that the recommendations are all preliminary and will be put to a vote before the WVU Board of Governors in June.

The preliminary recommendations for the WVU Tech academic review, Academic Transformation, were released Friday.

Stuart said the recommendations were derived from self-studies completed by faculty members, which involved them reviewing their own departments.

Those self-studies were then reviewed individually by a four-member panel, which consisted of two individuals from WVU Tech and two from Morgantown, who used the self-studies to formulate recommendations.

Individual recommendations from the panel members were combined into what was then released as the preliminary recommendations, which can be viewed at transformation.wvutech.edu/review.

Based on those preliminary recommendations, the majors that have been recommended for discontinuance include Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management.

The preliminary recommendations also suggest that WVU Tech no longer offer Bachelor of Science degrees in Adventure Recreation Management, Health Services Administration and Public Service Administration and instead make them an "area of emphasis" within the Bachelor of Science in Business Management.

Public Service Administration will be converted into an area of emphasis within the Bachelor of Arts for History and Government.

The remaining programs' recommendations were either to continue the program with no changes or to continue the program with some changes.

By cutting the Bachelor of Science in Chemistry program, the recommendation states that WVU Tech "can instead focus on the delivery of its new BS in Chemical Forensics as well as continue to deliver high quality student learning experiences in its chemistry service courses."

Stuart said the school's new major in Chemical Forensics aligns more with what students are looking for and allows WVU Tech to continue to use the resources it has built up through its chemistry program.

"It still allows us to take advantage of our state-of-the-art laboratory space that we have and the expertise that we have in terms of faculty there," he said. "So when you look at that, even though one may say, 'Oh my goodness. It looks like they're getting rid of chemistry.' The reality is we're refocusing our attention and resources to actually grow in a more budding aspect or area of chemistry."

For WVU Tech's Aviation Management program, which has been around since the late 2000s, the recommendation states there were challenges "staffing the program and facilitating the partnership with partner flight schools."

It also stated that it was "not viable in its current form and that the institution would be better served by allocating its available resources to other existing programs and institutional functions."

WVU Tech has an Aerospace Engineering program, which has not received any recommendations.

Low enrollment was cited as one of the reasons for the recommended cuts to programs.

According to information gathered from WVU's website, WVU Tech's enrollment has increased from what it was nearly a decade ago but has declined in recent years, which tracks with what is being experienced nationwide.

Enrollment at WVU Tech was 1,261 in the fall of 2014. It then increased to 1,794 in the fall of 2019 after its move to the Beckley campus from Montgomery in 2017. The most recent numbers for the fall of 2023 show enrollment at 1,448.

In addressing enrollment, Stuart said WVU Tech is not only focused on recruiting new students but also retaining students, which was an area in which Academic Transformation was focused.

"As I've said before, you know, you cannot recruit your way to enrollment growth," he said. "That's going to be an enhancement in our actual retention efforts."

Stuart said the school's retention rate, which is the number of first-time, full-time freshmen who return for their sophomore year, is around 62 percent, though he believes a 75 percent retention rate is doable in the near future.

When Stuart started in 2023, he said the retention rate was around 54 percent.

Stuart said it's important for people to keep in mind that the academic recommendations are preliminary and can be appealed.

Notices of Intent to Appeal must be filed by Friday and can be done at transformation.wvutech.edu/review.

Appeals hearings will take place on April 25 and 26, and final decisions are scheduled to be made on April 26.

Stuart said he does not anticipate many appeals because the program recommendations do not include personnel cuts.

"Most of the people have been concerned about personnel cuts, and so our ability to keep it focused on student success — position and reposition our people and our academic programs and stuff like that — it gives us an opportunity to go through and really strategically place ourselves in a position to do better and be better," he said.

Stuart said he has also scheduled office hours for students who wish to give him feedback on the preliminary recommendations.

Office hours will be at Stuart's office located at 408 S. Kanawha St. in Beckley from 9:45-11:30 a.m. Thursday and 8-10 a.m. Friday.

Stuart said he also had office hours scheduled for earlier in the week which students were notified of via email.

Stuart said the decision will ultimately rest in the hands of the WVU Board of Governors, which will vote on which recommendations to approve at its meeting on June 21.

Should the WVU Board of Governors approve the recommended cuts, those programs would come to an end by Aug. 31.

When asked what would happen to the students enrolled in the programs, The Register-Herald received the following statement from WVU Tech: "If any program is ultimately decided to be discontinued, all currently admitted students with more than 60 credit hours towards the program would be taught out in their current program of study and would be able to complete their current program of study. Students would also have the opportunity to transition to other programs."

Stuart said one of the driving metrics behind the review was student success, measured by retention, persistence, and degree completion.

"This process has given us an opportunity to take a very comprehensive look at where we've been, where we are, but also be able to strategize for where we need to go," Stuart said.

These reviews also looked at enrollment and completion trends, faculty staffing and productivity trends, high DFW courses and curricular flexibility as measured by general electives in the curriculum.

DFW is in reference to when a student receives either a grade of a D or an F in a course or withdraws from the course.

Stuart said faculty members and department chairs were then asked to complete a "self-study" on their program, which looked at student data, program success, resources allocated and more.

For more information about the review process and next steps, go to transformation.wvutech.edu/review.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com