By Amy Quigley
When David C. Hardesty Jr. became president of West Virginia University in 1995, one of his primary goals was to make WVU the institution of choice for more students by revitalizing the student experience and enhancing the University’s reputation for academic excellence.
A team effort by administrators, faculty members, staff, students, board members, and state leaders accomplished these goals. Despite declining numbers of high school graduates in West Virginia, far more students are choosing WVU than ever before—fall 2005 enrollment on the Morgantown campus exceeded 26,000, setting a new record for the fourth consecutive year. Freshman enrollment is also at record levels. Freshman-to-sophomore retention reached an all-time high of 81percent in 2004. The graduation rate has increased. Average GPAs and standardized test scores of incoming students are up.
While academics and student life were among his highest priorities, Hardesty and his leadership team worked simultaneously on advancing WVU on other fronts. To meet the needs of twenty-first-century students and citizens, WVU needed an enhanced research stature, an effective administrative structure, cutting-edge technology, and increased private giving.
Research and Economic Development Growth
Research is a key element in a land-grant university’s mission. It expands society’s knowledge base, advances technologies, enhances student learning, and promotes economic development in the state and nation.
Sponsored research and projects funding has grown dramatically over the past ten years, reaching a record level of $150 million.
“Since David Hardesty became president of WVU, the University has focused on the synergy between research and teaching and the need to reach out nationally and internationally for external research support in all disciplines,” said Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Nigel Clark. “Our research stature, funding, and infrastructure have grown tremendously over the last decade.”
Using WVU research to improve the state and national economy has been a special focus of the president.
To that end, WVU established a Technology Transfer Office, which facilitated a surge in the number of patents earned and spin-off businesses created from WVU research. Seventy percent of the invention disclosures ever filed based on WVU research have been filed in the last five years.
WVU also opened a business incubator, which now has seven resident companies on board, and is constructing a research park.
A recent WVU Bureau of Business Research report showed that WVU’s total annual economic impact—including the impact of research—on the state of West Virginia is about $2 billion. Every dollar invested in WVU generates $10 in the state’s economy.
Growth in WVU health sciences research has been especially robust. Neurosciences is a key research focus. In 2004, the Health Sciences Center broke ground for the $30 million Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, the world’s first independent research center devoted to the study of human memory. The building is expected to house the world’s largest concentration of Alzheimer’s disease researchers. BRNI scientists have already received patents on several potential Alzheimer’s medications.
Overall, WVU’s research reputation has risen alongside the rising research funding.
Reaching Out to More People
WVU knowledge is improving the lives of more people than ever before. Nowhere is that more evident than in WVU’s health care offerings.
“Under President Hardesty’s leadership, the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center has been able to implement cutting-edge technologies such as the positron emissions tomography (PET) scanning and the gamma knife for treating complex brain tumors,” said Jeff Neely, associate dean for clinical services in the WVU School of Medicine. “These technologies, amongst others, allow the residents of West Virginia to receive the most advanced health care without leaving the state.”
The formation of the United Health System has been a landmark achievement in West Virginia health care, and WVU’s teaching and clinical work have also been greatly expanded through the establishment of the Eastern Medical Division and the expansion of the Charleston Division.
The past ten years has been a period of tremendous growth and change at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center,” Vice President for Health Sciences Dr. Robert D’Alessandri said recently. “I think that President Hardesty deserves a lot of credit for insisting that we look far into the future as we plan.”
Forward-looking leadership has also helped the WVU Extension Service increase the number of people it serves—in fact, its client contacts have more than doubled in the past decade.
“President Hardesty has steadfastly supported the WVU Extension Service’s network of offices in all 55 counties, and other statewide WVU outreach programs in the health sciences, economic and community development, and mentoring leaders at all levels,” said Larry Cote, director of the WVU Extension Service and associate provost for Extension and Public Service.
New Extension programs developed in the past ten years include efforts to strengthen the economy through rural e-commerce and heritage tourism and address health threats such as diabetes and heart disease.
4-H youth programs are especially dear to Hardesty. He currently chairs the National 4-H Council Board of Trustees—the first university president to do so. His interest in 4-H stems from his belief in the power of positive youth development.
“President Hardesty’s conviction about youth is absolutely clear, and his passion for creating meaningful opportunities to enrich the lives of youth and to call on them to lead us in the future is reflected in all facets of his work,” said Cathann Kress, director, youth development, for the National 4-H Headquarters, USDA.
“Beyond the impressive changes on the WVU campus, President Hardesty has extended his vision for youth through his leadership with 4-H youth development programs,” Kress added. More than anything else, President Hardesty understands that for WVU to thrive, youth must thrive.”
Building Greatness Through Private Giving
In an environment of budgetary cutbacks, all of the University’s functions have benefited tremendously from increased private giving to the WVU Foundation, led since 1999 by Duke Perry.
Annual disbursements from the Foundation have nearly doubled over the past decade, thanks to the generosity of thousands of donors.
The cornerstone of the increase in private giving was the Building Greatness capital campaign, which exceeded its $250 million goal for scholarships, professorships, facilities, research support, and more.
In the opinion of one of WVU’s most generous benefactors, Hardesty inspires confidence in potential donors.
“He has great foresight and vision, and he always has the best interest of students in mind. He makes people want to give because they feel that the future of the University is going to be so positive under his leadership,” said Carolyn Eberly Blaney.
Administering the University Effectively
Leading a university requires far-ranging administrative skill. As Hardesty notes, the most surprising and challenging part of the job is that things never slow down.
At the beginning of Hardesty’s presidency, the University was charged with reallocating $38 million from its budget to fund faculty and staff salary increases. Through the years, the state has faced budgetary shortfalls and higher education as a whole has faced calls for increased accountability.
Through strategic planning and the hard work of his leadership team, Hardesty helped the University not merely survive, but thrive in this harsh environment.
Enrollment growth, increased private giving, and internal efficiencies have improved the University’s financial position.
The total revenues of WVU and its affiliates have increased by 150 percent in the past decade. The financial health of WVU has been validated by external audits and bond ratings that have been upgraded to A1 and A+ by Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s.
In 1995, WVU’s student services, financial, and human resources computing processes were out-of-date, and Y2K was looming. A new administrative platform for human resources and financial processes includes integration of regional campuses in the same network. Technology investments have been a high priority of the Hardesty administration and have included:
• Online course registration and grade reporting.
• Campus Intranet and new e-mail systems for faculty, staff, and students.
• An entire campus network upgrade.
• Residence hall wiring and Internet service.
• Acquisition of assistive technology consistent with ADA requirements.
• Addition of computer labs, data centers, electronic classrooms, and wireless network.
• Launch of a student/faculty Web portal called the “MIX” (Mountaineer Information Xpress).
Faced at the start of his tenure with an aging physical plant, Hardesty and his leadership team have invested more than $700 million in facilities that meet the needs of today’s scholars.
WVU has worked to integrate its academic and administrative functions with those of its regional campuses. The WVU Institute of Technology joined the WVU family during Hardesty’s presidency, and WVU Potomac State College became a fully integrated division of WVU this past summer. WVU Parkersburg students can pursue WVU nursing and regent’s bachelor of arts degrees on their own campus.
WVU’s self-supporting athletic department has been highly successful, despite challenges that included the changing composition of the Big East Conference. Head coaches hired during the past decade—including football’s Rich Rodriguez, women’s basketball’s Mike Carey, men’s basketball’s John Beilein, and women’s soccer’s Nikki Izzo-Brown—have led their teams to high levels in national competition.
Hardesty was supported for almost nine years by Scott Kelley as vice president for administration, finance, and human resources. Hardesty referred to Dr. Kelley, his first administrative hire, as a steady hand who guided him through challenges ranging from budget revisions to campus building plans.
Carolyn Curry joined Hardesty’s staff in 1996 as executive officer for communications and later became WVU’s vice president for institutional advancement. She modernized WVU’s communications and recruiting efforts by standardizing and branding the University’s image, leading the creation of WVU’s state-of-the art Visitors Resource Center, and targeting recruiting messages more effectively to individual audiences. She departed last year for a similar role at Delaware State University.
President Hardesty benefits from the support and guidance of the Officers of the University [see inset].
Communication with the University’s 160,000-plus alumni around the world has been aided by Hardesty’s own status as a WVU alumnus and by the work of Steve Douglas and the WVU Alumni Association.
The four West Virginia governors Hardesty has served over the past decade also contributed to the University’s success by displaying an understanding of WVU’s importance to the state.
Last year, Governor Joe Manchin and the state Legislature expressed their confidence in WVU’s fiscal integrity, accountability, and responsiveness to state goals with the passage of Senate Bill 603, which vested authority in the WVU Board of Governors and reduced the layers of approval required beyond the campus board.
“David Hardesty’s passion for WVU has certainly shone through during these last ten years,” Manchin recently told Morgantown’s Dominion Post. It’s been a time of tremendous growth and success for the University, and President Hardesty has demonstrated a true understanding of the importance of partnering with the local community. As a result, WVU has become an integral part of not only north-central West Virginia, but the entire state as well.”
Bethlehem Steel Chairman Emeritus Curtis H. “Hank” Barnette, former chairman of the WVU Board of Governors, has high praise for Hardesty’s leadership.
“President Hardesty has achieved and exceeded all requirements as the president of WVU,” Barnette said. “He has, along with his staff, led WVU in an outstanding manner and has been supported throughout by the exemplary service and leadership of his wife Susan Hardesty.”
President Hardesty’s knowledge and leadership skills have been recognized at the state and national levels. He has served on committees and task forces for the state of West Virginia, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the American Council on Education, and the NCAA. He is the Big East Conference’s BCS representative, and has been an invited speaker to the U.S. departments of energy and education, the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, and the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, among other groups.
Looking to the Future
As he observes the anniversary of his inauguration, another September afternoon in Woodburn Circle claims the dominant place in Hardesty’s memories of his presidency thus far.
“The way the campus came together after 9/11 is something I will always remember,” he said. “The need to say something meaningful to students who were looking for answers, suffering from loss . . . the need to address an uncertain future. It was a poignant moment and a challenging one but rewarding in the sense that the campus came together to deal with this tragedy.”
As his remarks to students at that time challenged them to look toward a brighter future, Hardesty himself is looking ahead.
His focus, he said, is on fulfilling a new five-year strategic plan developed by faculty and the WVU leadership team. Among its goals are continuing to increase enrollment by recruiting highly qualified students and further developing the University’s research capacity.
Specifically, it aims at achieving an enrollment of 30,000, including 1,500 students on the Potomac State College campus; maintaining a first-year student retention rate of more than 80 percent; raising the graduation rate from 56 percent to 63 percent; increasing the number of endowed professorships and chairs by 15; and growing research grants and contracts to $200 million.
WVU is continuing to expand and revitalize facilities to meet the needs of a growing University.
Last fall, WVU broke ground for its first newly constructed residence hall since the Towers were built on the Evansdale campus during Hardesty’s own undergraduate years. Another new residence hall will follow.
Renovations are about to begin on three historic Downtown campus buildings: Oglebay Hall will house the Forensic and Investigative Science Program; Brooks Hall will be the new home of the Department of Geology and Geography; and Colson Hall will house the English and Philosophy departments.
In January, a $9.5 million addition to the Agricultural Sciences Building opened to house WVU’s Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology programs.
The Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center is pursuing its own research strategic plan that promises to create jobs and improve the health of West Virginians, and WVU Hospitals is engaged in a $75 million expansion plan that will add 180,000 square feet of patient-care and support space to Ruby Memorial Hospital.
Hardesty is looking forward to working closely with community and state leaders and the entire University community to grow the University, both in size and stature.
“These last ten years of progress have essentially laid the groundwork for the future success of the University as we move forward with our 2010 plan,” Hardesty said, “and will ensure that a great land-grant, research University continues to serve its state.”