Students Get First Look at WVU Beckley Campus

Potential and current students at the West Virginia University Institute of Technology have gotten their first look at the school’s new campus in Beckley.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports dozens of students walked around campus and toured classroom buildings and residence halls at an open house on Saturday.

West Virginia University is moving WVU Tech’s operations from Montgomery. Some campus buildings in Beckley underwent complete makeovers while others have seen only a few changes.

WVU Tech President Carolyn Long says it’s anticipated that all the buildings should be ready for students as they arrive in August.

“I think it’s going quite well,” Long said. “We’re right on schedule with building, and we will start registering students in the first week of April. We’re quite excited.”

Incoming freshman Myah Adkins decided she wanted to go to WVU Tech in Beckley after the announcement. She lives with her mother 20 minutes away in Oak Hill, and she plans to live at home during the school year to save money.

Her mother, Kristen Adkins, attended school in Beckley when it was known as the College of West Virginia. She later taught at Mountain State University, which operated the Beckley campus before closing in 2013.

WVU Tech sophomore Jordan Bowen said she will miss a row of benches in Montgomery where she and her friends would sit for hours after classes let out in the evenings.

“They just hold a lot of meaning for us, but I think the move, overall, is good,” Bowen said. “I like the Montgomery campus a lot, but it’s old. The buildings are kind of rundown and they’re not maintaining it as well as they should because we’re moving. These new buildings just look really nice.”