West Virginia University Institute of Technology - Revitalization

Revitalization

The school had been beset with declining enrollments for many years. Much of this is due to the completion of good highways in the state, which have made attending WVU's main campus, traditionally the only other school to offer engineering programs, more reasonable for people in southern West Virginia.

In 2011, the state government passed the WVU Tech Revitalization Project law, in response to its declining enrollments and financial distress.

As a condition of the law, an assessment was conducted over the summer of 2011 and a “revitalization report” was completed by October 2011.

The report recommended that WVU Tech:

• Establish a co-operative (internship) component for every academic program,

• Eliminate the costly football program.

• Establish a science-focused teacher education program.

• Select a Campus Provost who “must command the confidence of both the Montgomery and main campuses of West Virginia University, as well as having the support of the local community and the State’s higher education and civic leadership.” (p. 31)

• And that state taxpayers spend an additional five to seven million dollars in each of the next five years.

The report emphasized the importance of its recommended budgetary appropriation by concluding

“Considering the ways a revitalized WVU-Tech will support West Virginia’s ability to compete industrially and economically, the resources required in this study should be viewed as a prudent investment.” (p. 30)