Woodburn Hall on the WVU Downtown Campus in Morgantown , WV . Photo by WVU / Alyssa Reeves .
Education & Innovation
WVU is a public , land-grant institution with its flagship campus in Morgantown and additional campuses in Beckley and Keyser . WVU also has two additional health sciences centers in Charleston and Martinsburg .
“ West Virginia University ’ s connections and impact span West Virginia ,” says April Kaull , executive director of communications for WVU University Relations and Enrollment Management . “ In North Central West Virginia specifically , WVU employs 7,900 people and has an estimated $ 1.4 billion total annual economic impact on the local economy .”
The university is embedded throughout all 55 counties of West Virginia . Through WVU Extension , the university works on the ground to bring solutions to real-life problems in all counties . The Center for Excellence in Disabilities has 80 faculty and staff in 17 locations across the state , and through partnerships with more than 200 community organizations and a statewide Million Hour Match initiative , the Center for Community Engagement leverages WVU ’ s strengths to help better the state .
“ WVU is built on partnerships that will be key to the future we envision as a modern land-grant institution ,” Kaull says . “ We bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the pursuit of more industry partnerships designed to provide a strong pipeline for our students into internships , co-ops and jobs .”
Fairmont State University is a comprehensive four-year university with more than 3,200 students and offers more than 40 degree programs . Many of those programs are unique to the region , including the state ’ s only accredited bachelor ’ s and master ’ s programs in architecture and the state ’ s first aviation program with an FAA 141 flight school .
The university is entering a new era with its new president , Dr . Mike Davis . He began his term as president learning about the campus and community ’ s values .
“ I ’ ve been holding ‘ Open Mike ’ events on campus and in the community , during which I listen to what people are interested in and what people are excited about . My primary goal is to connect with the campus and wider communities and figure out what they ’ re excited about and what potential partnerships and relationships we can create ,” Davis says .
Enhancing the town and gown relationship is Fairmont State ’ s Falcon Center , a state-of-the-art facility for campus recreation that is open to the campus community and surrounding community alike .
“ It has many services and areas open to the public , including food and beverage locations like Chick-fil-A and
Starbucks , and memberships are also available for things in the Falcon Center like our indoor pool , fitness rooms , walking track , full-size gyms and conference center ,” says Ken Fettig , vice president for student success .
Pierpont Community & Technical College ’ s aviation maintenance technology program will soon be housed in the North Central West Virginia Airport , thanks to a $ 25 million budget allocation by the West Virginia Legislature . The 70,000-square-foot facility will feature two high bay hangars ; aviation-related specialty labs , including shops for turbine and reciprocating engine overhauls ; flight controls and hydraulics ; lecture classrooms ; and a learning resource and testing center , according to Pierpont . The community and technical college ’ s advanced welding program will also have shops and classrooms at the facility .
The West Virginia Department of Education oversees the Science , Technology , Engineering , Arts and Mathematics Technical Assistance Center in Morgantown . The program enhances educational opportunities among middle schoolers across the state by focusing on all content areas and promoting problem-solving and critical thinking skills , which are needed in today ’ s workforce .
Celebrating its 30-year anniversary , the High Technology Foundation is housed in the I-79 Technology Park and prides itself on building a stronger West Virginia . The foundation has an emphasis on science , technology , engineering and math — STEM — and offers a substantial amount of annual contracting opportunities for the business community .
Trilogy Innovations held its second Tech Yeah Conference in June . The conference encourages academia and both large and small businesses to come together to learn about one another and collaborate to expand the tech industry in the state .
“ Tech Yeah was started to give small businesses in the area a platform to start talking about their core capabilities ,” says Brandon Downey , Trilogy Innovations CEO and president . “ Most often within these borders and sometimes outside these borders , there ’ s not a lot of visibility on many of the great things these companies are doing . They often get overshadowed by larger firms making investments in West Virginia whenever these companies have established a foothold here , started their companies here and started growing organically within the state . So , for us , we wanted to bring everyone together to start highlighting them and to also give the students that are residents here that have been born , raised and now educated within West Virginia , basically a different outlook .”
Photo by Fairmont State / Dustin Merrill .
20
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE