Benson touts ‘Mountaineer momentum’ in second State of the University
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MORGANTOWN - Touting "Mountaineer momentum," WVU President Michael Benson offered a bit of a progress report Monday during his second State of the University address.
"We are in a state of intentional forward motion," he said during the roughly 30-minute address offered prior to the WVU Faculty Senate meeting at the WVU College of Law.
A year ago, Benson's remarks focused on the establishment of the "strategic compass" necessary to chart the university's path into the future.
He explained Monday that it’s time to begin implementing that plan in the priority areas of education, discovery, health, services and experiences.
While there weren't a lot of specifics provided, Benson said the overall focus is student success.
"For our students, we must balance affordability, access and academic quality in a rapidly evolving higher education landscape with a focus on student experiences," he said. "Any student from West Virginia who wants to attend West Virginia University has a place at any of our three campuses."
To that end, Benson pushed the recently announced WVU Express, which eliminates the traditional college application process to offer direct admission decisions for qualifying high school seniors in Monongalia and Kanawha counties.
"Two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to meet with the leadership of Kanawha County schools to discuss this pilot, and they were ecstatic. Last Wednesday, we were at Capital High School, in Charleston, meeting with juniors and seniors," he said, explaining that in the handful of days since the program was announced some 32 Kanawha County students across five schools have applied.
"Our goal is to expand the WVU Express in the coming months and years to have an impact on the entire state," Benson said.
But in order to truly compete, the university's reach must extend beyond West Virginia's borders.
Benson's presentation included a look at what he described as WVU's "brand commercial," which is airing nationally.
It poses the question, "Where do you want to go?"
When it comes to spreading the message of WVU, Benson said the answer to that question is everywhere.
Including right next door.
"I really believe that our success is inextricably tied to our ability to get into Pittsburgh high schools," he said. "I know many of you probably commute down from the Keystone State. That is going to a state where we have a presence in five different communities thanks to WVU Medicine with new hospitals. So, you're going to see a lot more aggressive targeting in states around us. That's going to be, I think, a key for our enrollment moving forward."
Ultimately, Benson said, "Enrollment is the reason for every single thing that we do."
As part of the address, Benson asked Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Beverly Wendland to join him at the podium.
Wendland expanded on Benson's point, noting it's not enough to simply get students on campus.
"A university should not congratulate itself simply for admitting a student. Success is graduating that student we prepared for what comes next," she said. "That means improving retention, persistence and graduation. It means closing achievement gaps, and it means ensuring every student has the guidance and support needed to make the most of a WVU education."
As West Virginia's flagship land grant university and only R1 research institution, Wendland said WVU "must maintain a relentless focus on quality."
Wendland, who officially joined the leadership team July 1, said she chose to come to WVU because she believed in its potential.
"Our challenge now is to turn that potential into measurable progress," she said.