Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 24, 2020) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg is offering emergency grants to eligible students to assist with unexpected financial challenges related to COVID-19. The funding, made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, will help students with expenses, such as food, technology and child care, during this uncertain time.

Fully-admitted, degree-seeking students who are currently enrolled in at least one course in the Spring 2020 semester at WVU Parkersburg and eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 can apply for a CARES emergency student grant at www.wvup.edu/cares. Students must be logged in to their campus email account to access the application.

The priority application deadline is 4 p.m. on Friday, May 8, 2020. CARES emergency grant funds will be distributed to qualifying students as quickly as possible.

In addition to transient, Early College and other non-matriculated students, those enrolled in fully online degree programs are not eligible for emergency financial assistance through the CARES Act.

“The Board of Governors, administration, faculty and staff of WVU Parkersburg are at all times committed to supporting our students in pursuit of their educational dreams,” said WVU Parkersburg President Dr. Chris Gilmer. “At no time has our support been more essential than in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the months to follow. We are appreciative to the federal government for the stimulus funds which will help us to provide direct support to our students and also to provide strategic fiscal support for the institution as a whole.”

Students will need to have a completed 2019-2020 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on file to qualify for a grant.

“We thank West Virginia Senators Manchin and Capito and our other elected leaders who worked hard to have higher education included in the stimulus package, and we pledge to our students that we will get these funds into your hands as quickly and easily as possible,” Gilmer added.

Students who do not have the means to complete the online application or need assistance should call the WVU Parkersburg Financial Aid Office at 304-424-8310 and leave a name, student ID number and phone number, or email finaid@wvup.edu.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 21, 2020) – WVU Parkersburg President Dr. Chris Gilmer has been named a 2020 recipient of the prestigious Paragon Award for New Presidents by the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society for his outstanding support of student success.

Nominated by student officers in WVU Parkersburg’s Sigma Omega chapter of the PTK honor society, Gilmer received the distinction because of his demonstrated support of student success and recognition of academic achievement, leadership and service among high-achieving students.

“We are so grateful for President Gilmer’s support of the Sigma Omega chapter at WVU Parkersburg,” said Victoria Poellot-Tauber, WVU Parkersburg student and Sigma Omega chapter vice president. “His leadership, campus involvement and belief in students have changed the atmosphere on our campus to foster student success. He has in one way or another personally inspired each of us to become the leaders we see him to be.”

Gilmer is one of only 28 college presidents throughout the nation recognized during PTK Catalyst 2020, the Society’s annual convention that took place virtually on April 16 and 17. More than 500 college presidents were eligible to receive the award.

“What means most to me is that this award comes from our students,” said Gilmer. “I share it with them because our students are the reason and the joy for everything that I do. I thank Phi Theta Kappa and our local chapter for this honor and for their passion for student success.”

In 2018, the college’s Sigma Omega chapter presented Gilmer, who is also a PTK alumni member, with the Phi Theta Kappa alumni medallion in recognition of embodying the organization’s true spirit of leadership, service, fellowship and continued academic excellence.

“We decided some time ago we wanted to nominate Dr. Gilmer for the Paragon Award for New Presidents because of his support and passion for our students,” said Marie Butler, WVU Parkersburg Sigma Omega chapter advisor. “He has made our students a priority.”

PTK students have a 91 percent student success rate, and research has shown that strong presidential leadership and support of PTK increases member success and the depth of their college experience.

Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 3.5 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 nations, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges.

For more information about WVU Parkersburg’s Sigma Omega chapter, contact advisors Marie Butler (mbutler1@wvup.edu), Andrew Rochus (arochus1@wvup.edu) or Andrew Walker (wwalker1@wvup.edu).

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 16, 2020) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg’s Sigma Omega chapter of Phi Theta Kappa was recently honored at the Ohio Region’s awards gala held on March 7, at Marion Technical College. Sigma Omega was presented with seven individual and chapter-wide awards during the ceremony.

 

Chapter honors included the Catch a Shining Star Award for being named the newest chapter in the Ohio Region, joining the organization in August 2019. Sigma Omega was also recognized as a Five Star Chapter as well as a Top Ten Ohio Regional Chapter for its many accomplishments, including an Adopt a Highway event and research conducted on voting behaviors and traditions.     

 

Sigma Omega chapter member Serena Graham won the award for Most Distinguished Regional Chapter Member.

 

“Serena has been an enormous asset to our chapter due primarily to her engagement,” said Marie Butler, WVU Parkersburg Sigma Omega chapter advisor. “She has volunteered her time and resources to our chapter, plus has been extremely active in all of our activities. Serena has set the example for others to follow pertaining to engagement.”

 

Chapter President Fallyn Buffington and Vice President Victoria Poellot-Tauber were both recognized for the Most Distinguished Chapter Officer award. Poellot-Tauber was inducted as the new Regional Secretary and Newsletter Editor for the Ohio Region of Phi Theta Kappa.

 

Sigma Omega chapter advisors, Marie Butler and Andrew Walker, were also recognized with the Dr. Mary Navarro Most Distinguished Advisor Award.

 

Phi Theta Kappa is an international honor society that recognizes the academic achievements of college students. The Society is represented on nearly 1,300 community colleges across 11 nations. Phi Theta Kappa also helps students grow as scholars and leaders through skill development, scholarships and more.

 

Membership to Phi Theta Kappa is by invitation only and extended to students meeting specific eligibility criteria. In order to be eligible for membership, current enrolled students must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average and completed at least 12 credit hours of associate degree coursework.

 

For more information about WVU Parkersburg’s Sigma Omega chapter, contact advisors Marie Butler (mbutler1@wvup.edu), Andrew Rochus (arochus1@wvup.edu) or Andrew Walker (wwalker1@wvup.edu). 

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 14, 2020) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg Library Director Stephen Hupp published his fifth book “On A Sunday In May.”

The novel follows the three most important races in international motorsports, which happen to occur on the same day. The Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR 600-mile race are held on Memorial Day in three different locations. The book features three stories that take place at each of the events.

“Readers will find both on-track action and glimpses into the private lives of the competitors,” Hupp said.

“On a Sunday in May” is a sequel to Hupp’s first racing novel “Born to the Breed,” which is about an aspiring NASCAR driver. He has also published three supernatural books: “Daughter of the Valley” and “Wings in the Night,” which are based in the Mid-Ohio Valley, as well as “Of Gods and Spirits.” All are available on Amazon.

Hupp has served as the library director for WVU Parkersburg since 2001. He is currently working on his sixth novel, which he plans to publish in the summer of 2021.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Hupp has put his author events on hold. The races featured in the book have also been canceled or postponed.

“On a Sunday in May” can be purchased as an e-book or paperback on Amazon.

For more information, contact Stephen Hupp at stephenlhupp@gmail.com.

The West Virginia University at Parkersburg Board of Governors will meet Wednesday, April 8. Due to the stay-at-home order, the members will not meet face-to-face. The meeting will take place at 3:15 p.m. via video conference.

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 wvup.edu/about/board-of-governors/agenda/ to view the complete agenda.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (April 2, 2020) – WVU Parkersburg Business Policy Capstone students are in a neck-and-neck race for global market leadership competing in the international market simulator GLO-BUS. All five student teams in the class finished in the top 100 recently.

The competition promotes students to co-managers of a company – selling either wearable video cameras or sophisticated camera-equipped copter drones – where they must make major decisions in areas such as product design and performance, financing company operations, pricing and marketing.

A computer provides insight into how each decision will impact the company’s performance by calculating the potential sales, profits, and other key information. The companies are judged on five criteria, including how much they earn per share, return on equity investment, stock prices, credit rating and brand image.

“Seeing it from week to week, you see how important it all is,” said Tom Mullenix, WVU Parkersburg student and team member of Prestige Worldwide. “Our team didn’t consider the importance of some aspects of the process, but we now see how crucial each element is.”

This marks the first time all of the student teams in the capstone class have earned a top 100 ranking during the competition. The top performer, A PORC, tied for 25th in the overall game, and their performance in stock price ranked 8th globally for the same week of February 24 to March 1.

“It’s quite amazing to see five teams all in one location in a global competition,” said Jeff Holland, professor and chairperson of the Business, Accounting and Public Service Division. “It’s almost statistically impossible.”

GLO-BUS combines all of the student’s previously learned concepts and lets them create their own strategies for success.

Supported by classmate and teammate, Nick Roedersheimer, Mullenix added, “We took some loans early, and we’ve paid them off. We’re looking forward to doing well in the long run.”

The competition is ongoing and the teams are planning for continued success.

The Business Policy Capstone students are joined by more than 31,000 students from 297 schools in nearly 30 countries.

(March 26, 2020) – West Virginia University at Parkersburg is using its unique resources to find solutions to help with shortages our local health care facilities are facing during the COVID-19 crisis.

Jeff Matheny, WVU Parkersburg Board of Governor’s member and CEO of Physician’s Business Office, recently contacted the WVU Parkersburg’s Workforce and Economic Development Division (WED) Executive Director Michele Wilson to see how WED could use their onsite makerspace to help provide additional face shields to our health care community.

“I had been following the news on the COVID-19 response from hospitals and health care facilities around the country when I saw an article talking about shortages of personal protective equipment because of the huge demand,” said Matheny. “The article described a process that had been developed in Boston to utilize 3D printers to produce face shields. Once I forwarded this information to Michele, her team jumped in and produced a prototype very quickly. After showing what had been produced to people working in health care settings locally, they confirmed the need and were excited to have something to protect the staff who might be exposed to the virus.”

Facing the challenge of producing protective face shields as quickly as possible, Logan Mace, WVU Parkersburg Entrepreneur Center project coordinator, immediately started researching potential solutions. He found that the online maker community had already developed great designs that the college’s makerspace would be able to fabricate via 3D printers and a laser cutter. A protype was created and shared with Matheny, who then asked the makerspace to create 100 face shields as quickly as possible for distribution to local hospitals, physicians’ offices and health care centers later this week.

“Our institution, and our division in particular, has always searched for ways we can give back to the community and help find solutions to the problems business and industry face,” said Wilson. “We are very happy we can use the resources we have, which are normally open to the public to use, to do our part in helping keep our doctors and health care providers safe.”

Other community partners have since become involved in the project. When local philanthropist Tres Ross of the Ross Foundation became aware of what we were doing, he called upon two other local makerspaces – the Epicenter in Marietta and the Boys & Girls Club of Parkersburg – to help as well. Ben Shuman, executive director for the Boys & Girls Club of Parkersburg, ordered the raw materials and Brad Hemmerly, Epicenter Makerspace coordinator, is picking them up in Columbus, Ohio. The Ross Foundation is providing a $5,000 grant for the materials. Woodcraft Supply is also providing more than 650 masks and shields to local health care workers. The hope is that between all of the community partners thousands of face shields will continue to be made and distributed to area medical workers.

WVU Parkersburg’s WED is planning to virtually train other makerspace locations throughout the state on how to create these masks for distribution. The West Virginia National Guard is also collecting a prototype to test it for durability and protection capabilities.

Parkersburg, W.Va. (March 23, 2020) – In response to the continued threat of COVID-19, West Virginia University at Parkersburg is closing all buildings owned by the college, both in Parkersburg and in Ripley, effective Monday, March 23, at the close of business until further notice.

President Chris Gilmer announced today that all instruction and business functions of the college are moving immediately online with all offices operating remotely beginning Tuesday, March 24.

“It is our great hope that we will be able to come back to face-to-face operations as soon as possible,” said Gilmer. “We will be monitoring the situation continuously and making appropriate announcements.”

As announced last week, spring break has been extended on both WVU Parkersburg campuses through Sunday, March 29. Classes will resume in a fully alternate, non-face-to-face format on Monday, March 30.

The college will continue to make updates to the campus website to notify students, faculty and staff. The web link is www.wvup.edu/coronavirus.

(March 17, 2020) – Spring break will be extended for one week for students at West Virginia University at Parkersburg. President Chris Gilmer announced on Tuesday, March 17, that spring break is extended on both campuses through Sunday, March 29. Classes will resume in a fully alternate, non-face-to-face format on Monday, March 30.

The college president also closed the campuses – both Parkersburg and the Jackson County Center – to the general public. Both campuses are open to students, faculty and staff only. Members of the general public are asked to transact business by telephone or through technological means. This will include requesting admission to the university, registering for classes, getting advised, paying bills, and other necessary functions. A link will be available on the college’s website to allow students to access these functions in a succinct online location. Students are also encouraged to call 304-424-8310 to talk to the admissions staff.

“The university recognizes that this decision will create a hardship for some faculty members, some students, and the public. We deeply regret any inconvenience; however, the decision is judged essential toward the promotion of public health and is in keeping with prevailing national trends,” President Gilmer said. “We look forward to providing our usual excellent customer service when this crisis has passed.”

At present, the University hopes to resume face-to-face instruction on Monday, April 20, although this date will be evaluated regularly and could be extended.

Computer labs on both campuses will be open during regular hours, and the IT help desk will remain open, anticipating a higher volume of calls due to an increase in online instruction. Labs will be available for student and faculty use to complete instruction because the University recognizes that many students and some faculty members do not have reliable access to the Internet at home. Social distancing will be enforced in the labs.

“The goal is to protect the university’s employees and the public to the degree possible by enforcing social distancing,” President Gilmer said. The practice of social distancing is now in mandatory effect on both campuses. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention define social distancing as “remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately six feet or two meters) from others when possible.”

The opportunity for most employees to work remotely will be phased in over the next few days.

The college will continue to make updates to the campus website to notify students, faculty and staff. The web link is https://www.wvup.edu/coronavirus/.