West Virginia Executive Fall 2019 | Page 37

— JULY 10 — — JULY 22 — — JULY 1 — WVSOM’s Class of 2019 consisted of 199 graduates with 121 entering primary care residency programs and had a 99 percent residency match rate for the class. — JULY 1 — Concord ’s 84 percent com- pletion rate in 2018-2019 can be attributed, in part, to resources that help ensure students gradu- ate like the Gap Fund, Pathway Scholarship and the university’s food pantry. — JULY 9 — One of the fastest-growing departments at WVU is the neuro­s cience department, thanks to the newly established Rockefeller Neuroscience Insti- tute and its inaugural chair, world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Randy Nelson. — JULY 10 — Shepherd’s Veterans to Agriculture program provides hands-on experience to military veterans transitioning to civil- ian life by providing training in agricultural entrepreneurship and sustainable food produc- tion at the Shepherd University Agricultural Innovation Center. — JULY 10 — Eastern West Virginia CTC’s New Biz Launchpad, a busi- ness accelerator focused on developing entrepreneurial opportunities for the Potomac Highlands region, has engaged more than 4,000 students and worked with hundreds of busi- nesses since it was founded in 2015. — JULY 11 — Last year, Bluefield State’s robotics team won its second world championship at the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition, beating larger schools like Georgia Tech as well as teams from around the world. — JULY 12 — Blue Ridge CTC has launched environmental science techni- cian certificate and degree pro- grams to prepare students for careers in safety and environ- mental jobs that are applicable to the manufacturing industry, which has been experiencing a growth surge in the Eastern Panhandle. — JULY 12 — AB pioneered the nation’s first baccalaureate physician assistant program of its kind in 1968 and the first post-bac- calaureate physician assistant master’s degree program in 1990, with graduates achieving a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam in 2017 and 2018. — JULY 18 — The associate degree in multi­ disciplinary studies at WVU Potomac State enables students to customize their education by combining three areas of focus in a broad range of diverse fields like communication studies, psychology and history in preparation for law school. For the first time in the school’s history, Marshall was named an R2 research institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in 2019, placing it among the top 6 per- cent of colleges and universi- ties in the nation. — JULY 25 — Expansions to New River CTC’s offerings are in the works as the college unveils an advanced skill set certifi- cation in barbering and pre- pares to launch a cybersecu- rity program and LPN to RN pathway once official approv- als are received. — JULY 25 — — JULY 22 — This year, Mountwest CTC graduated the first class of NewForce, a tuition-free, boot- camp-style coding program it developed in partnership with Generation West Virginia to train the local workforce on in-demand software skills. Glenville State is home to the Women’s Leadership Circle, a women’s organization that assists with campus projects while building a culture of female empowerment to help women prepare for and grow in their careers and leadership positions. WWW.WVEXECUTIVE.COM Appalachian Bible College is home to the longest-serving college president in West Vir- ginia at 36 years. — AUGUST 1 — WVU Tech, which is most well-known for its STEM pro- grams, has been training engi- neers for more than 65 years and has been ranked among the top 100 undergraduate engineering programs in the country by U. S. News & World Report for many years. FALL 2019 35