Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 26, 2022) – Dr. Chris Gilmer, President of West Virginia University at Parkersburg, is resigning his post at WVUP effective June 30, 2022. On July 1, he will assume the interim campus presidency of West Virginia University Potomac State College. The announcement was made jointly by Dr. Gilmer and Steve Hardman, Chair of the WVUP Board of Governors.

Based on broad stakeholder feedback, Dr. Gilmer received an excellent comprehensive evaluation from the Board and a five-year contract extension in 2020 with an option to withdraw from his contract with 60-days written notice. Both Dr. Gilmer and the WVUP Board emphasize that the parting is amicable and was initiated by Dr. Gilmer to pursue other professional opportunities. The WVUP Board will announce plans for interim leadership in the near future, and all parties have committed to work together for a seamless transition in leadership for WVUP.

“My family and I are very excited to join the WVU Mountaineer family and especially to make a new home in Keyser. We enjoyed our recent visit there with students, faculty, staff, and the community, and we are fully committed to give the same love and respect to the Potomac State and Keyser communities that we have given to WVUP and the Mid-Ohio Valley. We have so many friends who have really become an extension of our family at WVUP and in the greater Parkersburg area, so we have mixed emotions about leaving. Rarely an unexpected opportunity for service is simply too exciting to ignore,” Gilmer said.

“We are so happy to remain in West Virginia, and we will always be ambassadors for WVUP. It is my hope that I can be an advocate for WVUP and all of the state’s community colleges in their partnerships with the state’s flagship university system and that we can create new and mutually beneficial opportunities for collaboration to move this great state forward,” he said.

Gilmer welcomes the opportunity to lead another close-knit college community with a reputation for excellence in teaching and service to students, and he is looking forward to serving a residential college community. He is also excited to return to his roots since Keyser is a small rural community similar to the community in which he grew up.

“Obviously, the Board and the WVUP community are sorry to lose Chris and David. We have had them with us for four very productive years, and this community has come to love them as they have come to love this community. Our loss is the gain of Potomac State College and the WVU system, and we are delighted they are choosing to remain West Virginians and are committed to working with the state’s educational leadership to continue lifting up the Mountain State,” said Steve Hardman, WVUP’s Board Chair.

“As a testimony to Dr. Gilmer’s leadership and close partnership with the Board, we have a highly effective administrative team in place, and we will work together to create an interim leadership situation which allows WVUP to remain just as strong as it is now,” Hardman added.

Some highlights accomplished during Dr. Gilmer’s tenure at WVUP include receiving the largest single donation in the history of the university which is funding the ASCEND program to replicate the City University of New York’s research-based associate degree retention program; achieving a three-year five percent overall increase in enrollment and a nine percent increase in student retention compared to the same time period prior to his tenure; launching the WVU Parkersburg Proud campaign which doubled its goal by raising more than $6 million in grants and private donations in two years and was the first major goal-setting fundraising initiative in WVUP’s history; setting statewide records for the most Learn and Earn workforce development programs and the most national marketing awards; and maintaining balanced budgets while increasing the cash reserves of the college by more than 50 percent.

He will be remembered as a student-focused leader with the fulfillment of his dream to offer an on-campus primary care health clinic set to open this fall, for bringing the dormant Riverhawk Farm back into production through a partnership with Mister Bee Potato Chips, for opening 11 community-based learning sites in conjunction with area high schools and greatly increasing Early College options, for convening the Arts Collaborative of the Mid-Ohio Valley, and for opening the WVUP on Market Street location in downtown Parkersburg.

One of Dr. Gilmer’s greatest accomplishments has been rebuilding strong relationships with area schools and with the business, nonprofit, political, and industrial communities, for which he was named Business Person of the Year in 2019 by the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

“We didn’t do any of this alone and have only been successful because of the hard work of a devoted WVUP team and the vision of this community. I don’t see this move as leaving WVUP and the Mid-Ohio Valley, at least not in my heart. This is a place I will return frequently because nowhere else have I ever felt more at home, more a part of a progressive community, or more loved. I see this an opportunity for another grand adventure in the state I now proudly call home and a chance to grow as part of the WVU system. I will never miss an opportunity to speak well about WVUP and the MOV or to continue expanding the relationships and partnerships created with you here,” Gilmer said.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 20, 2022) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg will hold its annual spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 7, at 2 p.m., in the College Activities Center. West Virginia University President Dr. E. Gordon Gee will serve as the keynote speaker.

Gee has been a leader in higher education for more than 30 years. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the top 10 university presidents in the United States. Born in Vernal, Utah, Gee graduated from the University of Utah with an honors degree in History and earned his Juris Doctor and Doctorate in Education from Columbia University.

“We look forward to an amazing commencement week at WVU Parkersburg,” said WVU Parkersburg President Dr. Chris Gilmer. “Our graduates deserve the best, and they are getting it with Dr. Gee as their keynote speaker. Not only is Gordon the dean of West Virginia’s university presidents; he is the dean of America’s university presidents.”

“He is a role model and inspiration to us all and the spirit of the Mountaineers, and it will be our great honor to welcome him and Ms. Laurie Erickson to the Mid-Ohio Valley. Dr. Gee is not just WVU’s president; he is America’s preeminent university president, and our community is filled with excitement.”

Laurie Erickson is a leader of the Erickson Foundation, which focuses its philanthropic efforts on alumni centers on West Virginia colleges and university campuses. The foundation recently bestowed WVU Parkersburg with a $200,000 gift to fund the C.O. and Charles F. Erickson Distinguished Faculty Chair in Entrepreneurship. This position will benefit the college, students and community by building and supporting interest in aspiring entrepreneurs, providing them with a strong foundation in business skills, networking and mentorship.

“This gift from the Erickson Foundation is quite simply transformational,” said Gilmer. “Before it, we were a proud regional college. After it, and the culture shift it will precipitate in our academic programs, we remain a proud regional college with a community focus, but we enter the big leagues of higher education with the first endowed faculty chair in the history of WVU Parkersburg. There will be no sufficient words to thank the Erickson Foundation for this investment in our future.”

This semester, WVU Parkersburg plans to award 416 certificates and associate and bachelor’s degrees to 350 students. More than 180 students plan to participate in this ceremony. In addition, the college will announce its Alumni of the Year, Business Partner of the Year and the Bernard P. McDonough Faculty Member of the Year.

Graduation will be streamed live at youtube.com/wvuparkersburg.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 20, 2022) – WVU Parkersburg President Dr. Chris Gilmer welcomes students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community to his free Concert of Healing on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m. The event will take place in the College Theater on the main campus.

The concert will feature world-class violinist Dr. Tami Lee Hughes, who will present a program of healing developed specifically for WVU Parkersburg to welcome everyone back face-to-face as the COVID-19 pandemic shows signs of abating and remember the millions lost to this disease.

“Never can I remember a time, as we come out of the darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic and strive for a return to normalcy, when we as a people have needed healing more than we need it now,” said WVU Parkersburg President Dr. Chris Gilmer. “We are delighted to present a concert built around that theme as the first large-scale face-to-face event at WVU Parkersburg since before the pandemic. As we continue to remain health conscious and take nothing for granted regarding COVID-19, still we are filled with hope that brighter days are ahead. This is a concert of healing and of hope for the entire community.”

Hughes is a native of Baton Rouge, La., and earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota and master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan.

She made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, touring the United States, Europe and Central America. In 2011, her solo album, Legacy: Violin Music of African-American Composers, received acclaim from audiences and critics, making it one of the top 10 albums by All Music Guide.

Hughes also has credits in popular music, film in television. She has recorded as studio violinist for Grammy Award-winning artists Aretha Franklin, Fred Hammond and Donnie McClurkin. She has also performed live in concert with Smokey Robinson and on television with Grammy Award-winning artists Kirk Franklin and Jonathan McReynolds.

The event is sponsored by the WVU at Parkersburg Foundation. Tickets are free, but limited. Please contact Abby Campbell at 304-424-8203 to reserve seats.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 12, 2022) – WVU Parkersburg business students in the Business Policy capstone course have earned Global Top 100 rankings in the Business Strategy Game (BSG), a worldwide marketplace competition.

The BSG is an online exercise where classrooms across the country run a company in a head-to-head competition. Like the real world, the companies compete in a global market arena, selling goods, analyzing revenue-cost-profit economics, assessing stock market prices and more.

“There are several lessons that can be learned from playing this game over the weeks,” said WVU Parkesburg student James White. “I learned a lot about projecting demand and predicting what the competition might do. However, the best thing I learned is how to adapt.”

White is pursuing an Associate of Science in Business Administration with the goal of continuing his education, earning a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus in Accounting and Financial Management.

He is also the manager of his class’ company. The team is comprised of Jason Bechtle, Justine Smith, Rachel Snyder, Kailynn Taylor and Victoria Walls.

Companies are measured on four performance variables every week – Overall Score, Earnings Per Share (EPS), Return on Average Equity (ROE), and stock price. Currently, there are 45,366 students from 442 colleges and universities in 46 countries participating.

WVU Parkersburg students have earned a Global Top 100 ranking for their company’s BSG performance five weeks in a row. In addition, the company received 26^th for best Overall Score, 8^th for best EPS, 44^th for best ROE and 7^th for best Stock Price.

“I am so proud of our students and their excellent performance in the competition,” said Jeff Holland, WVU Parkersburg Business, Accounting and Public Service dean. “Their rankings reflect the quality instruction they have received at the college, and it shows they can apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios.”

For more information on WVU Parkersburg’s Business, Accounting and Public Service degree programs, visit wvup.edu/BAPS.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 11, 2022) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg Board of Governors will meet Tuesday, April 12, 2022. The meeting will take place at 3:15 p.m. in the Francis & Nina Phares Board Room (Room 1300). Due to COVID-19, a virtual option to attend is also available.

For further details and instructions on how to attend the meeting, please contact Brady Whipkey, WVU Parkersburg chief of staff, at brady.whipkey@wvup.edu.

Visit http://www.wvup.edu/about/board-of-governors/agendas/ to view the complete agenda.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 6, 2021) – The WVU Parkersburg OPEN Task Force will recognize National Poetry Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month for a two-event series addressing how to use creative writing to process emotionally challenging events.

Assistant Professor of English Danielle Kelly will host an interactive Zoom on Tuesday, April 12, from 12:15 p.m.-1:00 p.m., for participants to learn about the benefits of writing as means for accessing emotional life events. The Zoom will also teach creative writing techniques to begin the journey of healing.

The session will identify and teach participants techniques to process emotions that seem inaccessible when faced with emotionally trying times, events or situations. Participants will be given prompts throughout the session to generate material.

Those who participate in the masterclass can present original pieces to share with the campus community during an Open Mic event on Tuesday, April 19, at 12:15 p.m., in the courtyard on the main campus. Faculty, staff and students who did not participate in the masterclass but would like to share a favorite poem are also welcome.

Open Mic sign-ups will begin at 12 p.m. on the day of the event. Those wishing to participate can also email Danielle Kelly at danielle.kelly@wvup.edu.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 4, 2022) – WVU Parkersburg’s Nursing and Health Sciences Division was awarded $690,000 through West Virginia Governor Jim Justice’s Nursing Workforce Expansion Program.

The program is designed to address the state’s nursing shortage and will fund nursing program expansion projects at colleges, universities, schools of nursing and career technical education centers across West Virginia.

With this award, the WVU Parkersburg Nursing and Health Sciences Division plans to offer an accelerated LPN to RN program. The investment is expected to support up to 20 to 30 new nursing students.

“The Nursing Workforce Expansion Grant award is a transformational opportunity for WVU Parkersburg,” said Kathy Frum, WVU Parkersburg Nursing and Health Sciences Division dean. “This grant would allow the program to provide an accelerated pathway for LPNs to complete an RN degree, increase the number of nursing students accepted into the program and support recruitment and retention efforts for qualified nursing students.”

She continued, “The grant monies will facilitate improvements to the existing ADN program. The division plans to collaborate with pipeline program for health care careers, provide excellent support for students and recruit and retain qualified nursing faculty.”

The nursing program expansion awards are administered by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and Community and Technical College System. Twenty-six funded projects across the state were announced by Gov. Justice on March 17. Approved projects were required to be focused on increasing enrollment in pre-licensure nursing programs through innovative approaches focused on timely degree completion and licensure for graduates.

“We are tremendously grateful to Gov. Justice for providing this historic funding to support the expansion of nursing education programs across West Virginia,” said Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, West Virginia’s Chancellor of Higher Education. “Through these new projects, our postsecondary education community will be better positioned to help shore up West Virginia’s nursing workforce – which, in turn, will help support our nurses working tirelessly on the front lines right now.”

Governor Justice announced the West Virginia Nursing Workforce Expansion Program in December 2021 by dedicating $48 million to support new and expanded initiatives that will train new nurses, fully fund the West Virginia Nursing Scholarship Program, value nurses already practicing in the state, and recruit nurses into West Virginia.

“I echo the chancellor’s gratitude to Governor Justice for this funding,” said WVU Parkersburg President Dr. Chris Gilmer. “We know how transformative this programming will be for the Mid-Ohio Valley.”

Parkersburg, W.Va. (March 31, 2022) – Transgender Day of Visibility is an international event to recognize the accomplishments and resiliency of the transgender community. Today, WVU Parkersburg student Coleen Nicoles presents three original works expressing her transgender journey. View her readings now at https://youtu.be/_h6jAJHOn4s.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (March 30, 2022) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg’s Fine Arts Committee and Art Club are hosting a Poorhouse Cemetery clean up. Participants will meet at the Poorhouse Cemetery to pick up trash, straighten existing crosses, plant new crosses, and spruce up veteran graves to celebrate Memorial Day. 

The event will take place on Saturday, April 9, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the cemetery on the main campus. The committee recommends that participants bring their tools for cutting back branches and working around fencing and trees.

The Fine Arts Committee and Art Club’s mission is to not only promote the arts and provide opportunities to explore the arts but also to promote community service. Although the pandemic has slowed past community service opportunities, the committee is looking forward to this year with its April clean-up.

“The Art Club did a little sprucing up [of the cemetery] in the fall, but we decided that if the world opened up again this April, we would plant some new crosses and spruce things up for Memorial Day,” said Fine Arts Committee member Dr. Sandra Kolankiewicz. “We are hoping life will stay open and that we can host all our usual events: the art show, reading, clean up, and for the first week in October, our Poorhouse Week.” 

Poorhouse Week celebrates the release of The Poorhouse Rag, the college’s annual literary magazine. Named after the Poorhouse Cemetery, the magazine publishes prose, poetry, children’s literature and artwork addressing themes of social justice. WVU Parkersburg also celebrates Poorhouse Week, remembering the Poorhouse of Wood County which once stood on college grounds.

The committee is currently accepting magazine submissions from WVU Parkersburg students, faculty, staff, alumni and their families. All entries will be considered for $50 genre prizes.

There is no fee to enter, and the deadline to submit is June 1, 2022. For submission guidelines, visit wvup.edu/poorhouserag.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (March 28, 2022) – Singing, dancing and art – WVUP’s Got Talent virtual variety show will take place on Thursday, April 7, at 6 p.m., on the college’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Six performers and seven fine arts contestants will present their talents to a panel of student judges for the chance to win a first-place trophy and $100 cash prize.

Audience members will have the opportunity to cast a People’s Choice Vote during the evening to show support for their favorite contestant. The winner of the People’s Choice will receive a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card.

WVUP’s Got Talent contestants, and their talents, include:

• Sarah Bowie, photography
• Morgan Cale, singing
• Julie Coberly, photography
• Christina Longfellow, playing piano
• Kimberly Matheny, drawing
• Autumn McKenna, drawing
• Michelle Ray, singer
• Kat Smarr, photography
• Savanah Snider, dancing
• Savanna Stopler, singing and photography
• Matt VanFossen, singing
• Joseph Whipkey, drawing

To watch the WVUP’s Got Talent show, visit wvup.edu/live or youtube.com/wvuparkersburg. Learn more about the WVUP’s Got Talent show and meet the performers at wvup.edu/talent.