Higher Education

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission on Thursday approved two new Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs for Concord University and Glenville State University.

West Liberty University’s Board of Governors met Friday to discuss the school’s president, W. Franklin Evans, after he was publicly censured last fall following at least one instance of plagiarism in a speech.

Recently, a survey of West Liberty University’s faculty was conducted, gauging their level of support for Evans since he was censured last year by the board of governors. More than 80 percent of respondents to that survey disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, “I am confident in the integrity of President Evans.” Evans has said he thinks the survey was unfair and that race plays a major role in his continued criticism. Evans is the university’s first Black president.

West Virginia State University (WVSU) has appointed Eric Jackson as its vice president and chief of staff. The announcement was made Thursday.

The largest teacher union in the nation released its annual report Tuesday on educator pay. The data ranks West Virginia as 49th in the country.

West Virginia’s higher education institutions are in need of some major maintenance repairs, according to West Virginia Higher Education Chancellor Sarah Armstrong Tucker. It’s been almost a decade since they received deferred maintenance funding.

West Virginia’s athletic department said Monday it will commit $1.5 million annually in education-related benefits starting this fall for its scholarship athletes.

Three finalists to become West Virginia State University's next president are visiting the campus in Institute this week.

Arizona Diamondbacks general managing partner Ken Kendrick and his wife, Randy, are donating $20 million to West Virginia University over the next 10 years to enable its business and economics college to offer new programs.

West Virginia lawmakers are hoping for a more normal legislative session in 2022 with some relaxed COVID-19 protocols at the statehouse. There’s also renewed hope to reduce or eliminate the personal income tax.