WVUToday on the Radio

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, mountaineers go first. University Alumni and Friends will come together March 26th for the 8th WVU Day of Giving, the annual 24-hour fundraising effort organized by the WVU Foundation. Will Green is the Foundation's Senior Vice President of Development and Chief Development Officer.

Will Green: When I think of WVU Day of Giving, I think less about the importance to WVU itself or WVU medicine, and more about what it means for our ability to help others. For our ability to create access to a college education for students in West Virginia, embark on groundbreaking research and provide great clinical care to our patients.

Shauna Johnson: All areas of the university will benefit from gifts during Day of Giving, including student programs, infrastructure, athletics, and more.

Will Green: Scholarships are always in great need. A big part of our mission as a state university and the state university and land-grant University of West Virginia is to provide access to a college education for all students in West Virginia. Providing dollars that help students do that, that provide access to that college education is really important, and that can be by giving to unrestricted scholarship funds, scholarship funds in a certain area, or supporting the new WVU guarantee that was announced by the university back in January.

Shauna Johnson: More than 36,000 gifts have been made on WVU Day of Giving since its launch in 2017, raising more than $96 million.

Will Green: It's really about what these dollars allow us to do for others, to help others, to help first generation college students who may or may not otherwise have an access to a college education to provide great clinical care to patients who otherwise may not be able to access that and research groundbreaking research in a number of areas that are really going to help people around the world.

Shauna Johnson: Find more information about hourly and all-day challenges during Day of Giving on March 26, and give a gift online at dayofgiving.wvu.edu.

Will Green: There's a lot of ways that people can get involved with Day of Giving. It is fun. There are a number of challenges that people can really help to rally for areas and causes that mean something to them.

Shauna Johnson: Let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, Mountaineers go first. Meet the 71st Mountaineer mascot.

Cade Kincaid: My name is Cade Kincaid. I'm a junior accounting major, and I'm from Fayetteville, West Virginia.

Shauna Johnson: A lifelong Mountaineer fan, Kincaid is now donning the Buckskins to represent the university and the entire state.

Cade Kincaid: From four to 20 I was a Mountaineer fan. In the past two years, it really dawned upon me that if I were to take this role, that I could really make a change and really influence some people and influence our state in a good way.

Shauna Johnson: A member of the Honors College, Kincaid serves as a peer mentor and ambassador for the John Chambers College of Business and Economics.

Cade Kincaid: The thing I like best about WVU is how inclusive it is. It's really been a great opportunity to me. I came from a really small high school. I came here with one other student that I graduated with, and I didn't know what to expect. They've done nothing but welcome me and help me succeed. I've had a great time while I'm here. And then at the same time, I've really developed as a person, and I feel like it's all due to this university.

Shauna Johnson: Kincaid's parents are WVU graduates, so is his sister. He counts cheering on the Mountaineers against Pitt as the student of the week, alongside his dad as his favorite Mountaineer memory so far.

Cade Kincaid: This university means a whole lot to me and my family as well as this whole state. Just being a part of it and then being able to share that with my dad is pretty awesome.

Shauna Johnson: Now his dad, his friends and family, and gold and blue fans everywhere will be cheering for him as he helps bring on the Mountaineers.

Cade Kincaid: Mountaineers are people that climb for fun or for sport, and I think that figuratively, we climb mountains every day at WVU. We try to become better every single day. And once we get to that peak of that mountain, we're not going to stop. We're just going to keep going until we make this university and state as good as we want it to be.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University Mountaineers go first. Now open to students on the downtown area of campus as part of the Foundational STEM Collaborative, the STEM Learning Center offering drop-in and appointment-based academic assistance study space and more for all majors.

Stephanie Young: The goal is to make sure that WVU students can be as successful as possible in STEM, whether that's a STEM major or a STEM course. We are here to support students, especially in their first two years.

Shauna Johnson: Stephanie Young, a teaching professor in the Department of Biology, is the director of what is a hub for all foundational university STEM courses required by more than 47 science focused undergraduate degree programs.

Stephanie Young: Part of the Foundational STEM Collaborative is devoted to working with our students, but we also are making a community of our STEM professors within Eberly College so that we can support one another, learn from one another, and do what we need to do to collaborate to make the student experience better.

Shauna Johnson: In its second semester, the STEM Learning Center's team works collaboratively with students and faculty members selecting learning consultants from each Eberly college department and responding to specific course needs.

Stephanie Young: We are here to serve all students in our introductory STEM classes, not just those. Within Eberly College, we welcome all students to join us for learning consultations, for workshops, and for any other types of social events that we offer. We are here to help.

Shauna Johnson: Here to help in Young's words, the whole student.

Stephanie Young: I have always loved working with students. I, in the biology department, work mainly with freshmen, and I appreciate that half of my job is to teach biology, and half of my job is to teach students how to college. So in this position, I have the opportunity to not only work with students in my biology classes, but students across the university.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, mountaineers go first. Being recognized for exceptional research activity, West Virginia University has once again been reaffirmed as an R-1 University, the highest possible research ranking from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Fred King is the university's vice president for research.

Fred King: The Carnegie classification looks at the overall research productivity of higher education institutions. And so for WVU what it means is that we're being classified as one of the leading research institutions in the United States.

Shauna Johnson: One of the leading institutions, producing research, providing hands-on learning, and propelling graduate and undergraduate students into meaningful careers to solve real-world problems.

Fred King: Because we're the state's Premier Land-Grant University, we have all the disciplines here really. So that means that students can work up at health sciences, they could do fundamental neuroscience work, they can work over in astrophysics utilizing the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. They have a range of opportunities to use modern equipment to work with leaders in the field that you just can't duplicate at other kinds of institutions beyond the R-1.

Shauna Johnson: As the only R-1 university in the mountain state, WVU is an economic driver, contributing nearly $5 billion to the region's economy each year while serving students along with West Virginia, the country, and the world.

Fred King: Research is part and parcel of what we do, both in terms of education and in terms of service. Those are our missions as a land-grant, research, service, teaching. And I think at the end of the day, everyone at West Virginia University understands that everything we do is about the student, and how we can best prepare the student, so once they leave the university, they have a very successful life, and are afforded opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have been afforded.

Shauna Johnson: So let's, go follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, Mountaineers go first. Support for international university students is available through the HomeStart Closet; an initiative that provides care packages full of items needed to live in residence halls or rental spaces to students arriving in Morgantown from all around the world.

Skylar Braithwaite: Any international student who's a current student at WVU would qualify.

Shauna Johnson: Campus and Community Life Assistant Director, Skylar Braithwaite, says most international students travel in with only the items they can fit in a couple of suitcases.

Skylar Braithwaite: The closet fills that gap to make sure that they have the items they need in order to be successful and be able to focus on their academics.

Shauna Johnson: To operate, the International HomeStart Closet relies on donations from local partners, community members, and alumni, including graduates who used the HomeStart closet as students.

Skylar Braithwaite: We want to make sure that they specifically have access to the resources that they need, because they shouldn't be focusing on, "Okay, I don't have bedding. I don't have plates and cups to eat off of." And then not be able to be successful in their courses because of that.

Shauna Johnson: The most popular items?

Skylar Braithwaite: Definitely bedding; pillows, pillowcases, sheets. Twin XL is the big one. That is all what the residence halls use. Comforters, blankets. Second after bedding is toiletry items; towels, washcloths. And then we can also supply kitchen supplies.

Shauna Johnson: Find out more at campuslife.wvu.edu.

Skylar Braithwaite: Making sure that the international students feel WVU is there for them and understands that there is a resource specifically for them and make sure that they feel supported by the university, I think that's important.

Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.

Shauna Johnson: At West Virginia University, Mountaineers go first. A new year is bringing new benefits to members of the WVU Alumni Association with discounted membership rates now available for the Student Rec Center.

Andy Darling: We've pretty much got the whole gamut for indoor recreation and fitness.

Shauna Johnson: Andy Darling is the Director of Campus Recreation.

Andy Darling: Part of our mission is to serve the campus community. By definition, that's students first and foremost. They're the biggest portion of that population. It serves them indirectly as well to have a healthy and engaged employee population, as well as those that are really passionate about WVU, and our alumni really fit that bill.

Shauna Johnson: Located on the Evansdale area of campus, the Student Rec Center has been serving the university community for nearly 25 years.

Andy Darling: For many students, I think of it as their third place. If they're not in class or they're not in their apartment or their residence hall, this is the place where they find their outlets for recreation and social connection. For many of them, they find us.

Shauna Johnson: Now, those indoor fitness opportunities are being extended to members of the WVU Alumni Association, their partners, and dependents with specially priced options covering different timeframes. Details are available online at campusrecreation.wvu.edu.

Andy Darling: We pretty much have it all. So whether it's our 17,000 feet of weight and fitness space, or indoor track, or the indoor pools with our lap pools and our 20-person spa, 50-foot tall indoor climbing wall, we've got really a lot of opportunities for folks regardless of whether they're looking for a place to recreate, general activity, or if they're looking for a place to exercise and work out.

Shauna Johnson: All while being actively involved in the university community. So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.