President James P. Clements outlined a plan Monday (Oct. 11) for the future of West Virginia University – a plan rooted in broadening the school’s research stature as a foundation for pivotal changes, challenges and achievements.

“Our mandate is clear; we cannot wait,” Clements told the annual Faculty Assembly during his State of the University address.

The strategic plan – “WVU’s Plan for the Future” – highlights five priorities that will move the state’s flagship institution into the next decade, re-imagining and redefining its role as a 21st century land-grant institution.

The plan also calls for a new vision statement for the University, proposed by the Strategic Planning Council:

“By 2020, West Virginia University will grow in national research stature, thereby enhancing educational attainment, global engagement, diversity, and the vitality and well being of the people of West Virginia.”

“This is more than a vision,” Clements said. “It’s a mandate and it’s delivered at a critical time in history of the nation and in the history of WVU. Our University is strong, solid, stable and successful. We are grounded in success; we are poised for the future. But the demand for action is clear and it is urgent.”

The plan includes a blueprint to move forward on each of the five major goals that will drive the University in the next decade and beyond:

• Engage undergraduate, graduate and professional students in a challenging academic environment.

• Excel in research creativity and innovation.

• Foster diversity and an inclusive culture.

• Advance international activity and global engagement.

• Enhance the well-being and the quality of life for the people of West Virginia.

Increasing and strengthening research activity, the “game changer” in WVU’s strategy, will become a reality through a variety of investments in both faculty and resources such as using a just announced National Institutes of Health award in neurosciences to create five laboratory facilities that provide WVU researchers with specialized equipment.

WVU allocated resources for 30 faculty lines this past year to support positions in the core curricula, Clements said, and will dedicate another 30 faculty lines this year in support of research on the way to fulfilling last year’s promise of creating 100 new faculty lines.

Clements announced that as part of the research push, the University will pay special attention to graduate education by examining new doctoral programs, interdisciplinary graduate programs, compensation packages for graduate students and student housing. As part of the housing effort, WVU will issue a request for proposals to identify a partner to assist in building affordable housing for graduate students in the former College Park housing area.

As part of the plan, the University will foster diversity and an inclusive culture in part by developing an ADVANCE Center from a recently awarded NSF grant. This will focus on promoting the inclusion of women in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

“We must create an enriched fabric of diversity on our campus, to ensure that the best mix of the best minds produce the best outcome,” he said.

To advance international outreach, Clements said the University will take a coordinated approach to infusing global perspectives and experiences throughout WVU.

He said the University is taking a similar approach when looking at the overall well-being of the state’s residents. The key to providing more service to the state is to use WVU’s outreach efforts, including extension, health care, divisional campuses and distance learning, in a more coordinated fashion.

Clements pledged action on several specific items within the next year:

• Fund 30 new faculty members in strategically placed research positions.

• Immediately increase by $350,000 the pool for Faculty Senate development and other seed grants to fuel faculty research, scholarship, and creative activity.

• Create new organizational frameworks for diversity and international outreach to incorporate these themes throughout the University.

• Improve the grant management program at WVU to better serve faculty.

• Fund the new student comprehensive health and recreation plan.

• Identify strong programs at WVU that focus on society’s needs and invest in their success to continue to advance research, scholarship and graduate study.

The goals and action steps will require facilities planning to support them, Clements said in charging Vice President Narvel Weese with proposing a master plan that allocates capital resources to support a finalized strategic plan which works in conjunction with a reinvented health sciences master plan.

At the same time, the WVU Foundation will be reviewing fundraising priorities in order to present a campaign goal.

“The timing of a new campaign meshes perfectly with our timetable for our strategic plan,” Clements said. “Without a doubt, a successful fundraising campaign is critical to the new strategic vision.”

He added, “Our University is more than an institution,” he said. “Our University is actually the combination of all of us in this room – and each person whose life we improve.”

Three WVU leaders who directed the planning process – Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Michele Wheatly, WVU Health Sciences Chancellor Dr. Christopher C. Colenda and Strategic Planning Council Chairman Dr. Nigel Clark – expressed approval of the work done so far on the Strategic Plan.

“I couldn’t be happier with the participation and great thinking that has emerged from the discussions of the work groups and the Strategic Planning Council,” Wheatly said. “This has been a highly inclusive process with involvement from WVU’s various constituencies and campuses.

“The momentum that is building is palpable, and I am excited that the conversation will broaden as a result of today’s address,” she said. “The institution seems to be ready for change and to accept the challenge of the charge that President Clements led today. It is an extraordinary time in the history of WVU.”

Colenda praised the strategic plan for its work toward building health at WVU and throughout the state.

“This plan is strengthened by the contributions of the Health Sciences faculty on all three of our campuses,” Colenda said. “WVU added health to its mission 50 years ago. We’ve accomplished a lot.

“But as we celebrate that anniversary, it’s important to assess how well we’re doing and think carefully about how we allocate our resources to meet the health needs of West Virginians in the future. The WVU Strategic Plan gives us a framework for that discussion.”

Clark, who led the council’s efforts in formulating the draft plan, said the president’s message spoke to the heart of the plan, which intends to raise the University’s stature with research as the driver.

“The Strategic Planning Council set out to steer the direction for WVU through the year 2020,” Clark said. “But the real importance is that we are now recommending structures and approaches to deal with a fast-changing world – a plan for the future. We need to be effective, efficient, competitive and engaged, or we will become irrelevant.

“This plan is not simply for administrative execution, it calls for change in structure, culture and communication and for more diversity and a wider vision. All constituents – faculty, staff, students, alumni and our state – must be involved.”

Cathy Jasper, an administrative associate at WVU and member of the Strategic Planning Council, said the plan with its five major goals aims to “take our mission beyond the walls of WVU”.

“If we can accomplish all of those things with the 2020 plan, we will be the model that other institutions and states look to,” Jasper said.

As news headlines from the year’s achievements flashed on a screen beside Clements during his remarks, he recounted the University’s achievements in the last 365 days.

Record highs in enrollment, private giving and sponsored research mark the University’s past year as it has maintained a solid financial position and kept in-state tuition steady in the face of nationwide budget shortfalls. Money was also found to provide one-time salary enhancements to faculty and staff.

Clements said the University is on solid footing, including a recent record high in sponsored research of $177.7 million in the last year. So far, WVU has garnered $49 million in funding this fiscal year, about $21 million ahead of this time last year.

Enrollment has also taken off. Clements said the estimate for this year’s enrollment numbers, counting all of WVU’s campuses, brings the student population to approximately 32,350. On the main campus, minority citizen student enrollment has increased by almost 11 percent and international enrollment by 5 percent.

Donors have recognized the quality of WVU’s education by giving $80 million in the last fiscal year, a 38 percent increase from the $58 million received the year before.

As the University achieves institutional success, it doesn’t leave behind its core mission of providing for the state. The University’s health care system provides tens of millions of dollars a year in care for those who are uninsured or underinsured.

After months of work on the part of the Strategic Planning Council, made up of more than 40 people at all levels of the University from students to faculty to administrators, the draft plan is open for public comment.

The University will gather feedback on the Strategic Plan through a series of town hall meetings to be held in Morgantown, Keyser and Montgomery, and a website, http://strategicplan.wvu.edu/

By Diana Mazzella
Communications Specialist
WVU University Relations/News

-WVU-

dm/10/11/10

CONTACT: WVU University Relations/News
304-293-6997

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