West Virginia University

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West Virginia University
Established 1867
Type Public, Land grant
Endowment $452 million[1]
President David C. Hardesty, Jr.
Faculty 1,850
Staff 7,276
Students 26,051
Undergraduates 19,510
Postgraduates 6,541
Location Morgantown, WV, USA
Campus Town
Colors Old Gold and Blue
Nickname Mountaineers
Mascot The Mountaineer
Fight song Hail West Virginia
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Website www.wvu.edu
WVU Mountaineer Mascot statue in front of the Mountainlair Student Union.
WVU Mountaineer Mascot statue in front of the Mountainlair Student Union.

West Virginia University is an institution of higher learning based in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA, with off-site campuses in Parkersburg, Montgomery, Keyser and Charleston. WVU was founded in 1867 as a land-grant university with the help of the Morrill Act, and was originally called the "Agricultural College of West Virginia." The university gained its current name in 1868. Enrollment for Fall semester of 2005 was 26,051 with school projections estimating enrollment reaching 30,000 before the year 2010. West Virginia University is also notoriously known for consistently being a top party school in the United States. This reputation is not well liked by school officials or the community but the students continue to perpetuate it.

The university offers 178 different majors in 15 different colleges and has produced 25 Rhodes Scholars, including current WVU president David C. Hardesty, Jr.. There are only 6 other public universities with more. The university has also produced 29 Goldwater Scholars, 16 Truman Scholars, 5 members of USA Today's All-USA College Academic First Team, and 2 Udall Scholarship winners.

As of July 1, 2005 Potomac State College became an fully integrated component of West Virginia University. The Potamoc State campus is located in Keyser, WV. Potomac State College is the component of WVU which offers 50 Associate Degree programs. The campus while under the control, goverance and support of West Virginia University is a self sufficent campus with it's own residence halls, faculty and staff. West Virginia University also has campuses in Parkersburg, Charleston, Martinsburg, and Montgomery, WV.

Contents

[edit] Colleges and schools

West Virginia University is organized in 15 different colleges or schools. They are:

[edit] Forensics program

In addition to the above listed colleges/schools, WVU also has a nationally recognized forensic science program. Originally created through a partnership with the FBI, the program is fully accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and is the official library holdings repository for the International Association for Identification.

The program focuses on several aspects of forensics including:

Forensic facilities include special "crime-scene" houses and vehicles that can be altered and adapted to give student investigators hands-on experience, as well as traditional laboratories and classrooms.

[edit] Institutional advancements

In addition to the high technological advancements the university has made, there is currently over $800 million in new construction processes pending on the Morgantown campus. These include a joint venture with the Johns Hopkins University that involves the creation of a new research institute devoted solely to the study of human memory and neurological disease called the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute. The Institute BRNI will be housed in a state-of-the-art facility priced at $87 million. It is scheduled for completion in mid-2007.

The University has also received growing national recognition for its engineering programs. Upcoming projects include an engineering research park, advancements to the NASA/WVU IV&V Facility, as well as combined research with the Institute for Scientific Research [2], who is building its national research headquarters within 20 miles of WVU's Morgantown campus in Fairmont, West Virginia (A move from the University of California, Berkeley).

Also located on campus is the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, the world's largest collection of West Virginia related research material. It is located in the Wise Library on the Downton Campus. According to the university, the collection includes over 4,500,000 manuscript documents, 30,000 books, 15,000 pamphlets, 1,200 newspapers, 100,000 photographs and prints, 5,000 maps, and 25,000 microfilms, oral histories, films and folk music recordings. It is often called simply the "West Virginia Collection."

The university co-publishes, with the United Association for Labor Education, Labor Studies Journal.

[edit] Campus

An interesting aspect of the West Virginia University's Morgantown campus is the fact that it is actually split into three smaller sections or sub-campuses. The original main campus, typically called the Downtown Campus, is located in historic downtown Morgantown. Because expansion of the downtown area was virtually impossible, a newer campus, called the Evansdale Campus, was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s about a mile down the Monongahela River from the historic Downtown Campus on a high rise above the river. The third campus is the Health Sciences Campus, which, although located relatively close to Evansdale, functions as its own area (also lying well above the Monongahela Valley).

West Virginia University also includes Potomac State College which is located in Keyser, WV.

[edit] PRT System / Campus Transportation

Main article: Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit

Because of the issue of WVU's split campuses (Downtown, Evansdale, Health Sciences) one of the major icons at the school is the Personal Rapid Transit system that links them.

In 1974, Boeing began construction on the major PRT project in Morgantown, West Virginia, designed to shuttle students between WVU's three campuses. The school's original main campus, the Downtown Campus, is located in the valley of the Monongahela River. The Evansdale Campus, developed in the 1950s and 1960s, is on a high rise directly above the river, taking it out of the flood plain, but still in the valley. Because it proved impossible to develop any more valley land, WVU expanded to a separate parcel a couple of miles away on the other side of a ridge (today's Health Sciences Campus).

The WVU PRT began operation in 1975. There was an interruption in service during the 1978/1979 school year to allow system expansion from the Engineering station to new stations at the "Towers" dormitories and the WVU Medical Center. During this time, WVU provided bus service between the campuses. The PRT handles about 16,000 riders per day (as of 2005). The system uses about 70 vehicles, with an advertised capacity of 20 people each (although a more practical number is more like 15). The system has five stations (Walnut, Beechurst, Engineering, Towers, and Medical) and a 4 mile (6 km) track. The vehicles are rubber-tired and run along electrified rails. Steam heating keeps the elevated guide way free of snow and ice. Most students habitually use it. This system was not sold to other sites because the heated track has proven too expensive. The system will occasionally break down, yet it is usually only for about ten minutes. Otherwise, it reliably transports students between Downtown, Evansdale and the Health Sciences campuses. In order to board the PRT, one may either pay a nominal fare, or swipe their Mountaineer Card, an ID that also acts as debit plan, library card and unlimited transit pass. The cars are blue with gold trim and the school logo, as well as the school name printed on the front of each. Inside, the seats are light beige fiberglass and the interior carpet is brown. As only eight seats are available per car, four in the front and rear, passengers are expected to give precedence to physically impaired or elderly riders.

The PRT has also been the recipient of favorable recognition. The National Society of Professional Engineers named the WVU PRT one of the top 10 engineering achievements of 1972, and in 1998 The New Electric Railway Journal picked the WVU PRT over Walt Disney World's monorail as the greatest people mover in the United States.

In 2006 WVU received the distinction of being dubbed one of the best workplaces for commuters a recognition bestowed jointly by the US Department of Transportation, and US Environmental Protection Agency.

Each autumn during the annual Mountaineer Week celebrations, a special PRT car is brought in front of the MountainLair student union where students participate in the "PRT Cram." The purpose of the event is for student organizations to organize groups who attempt to squeeze as many people into the PRT car as possible. The current record was set in 2000 with 97 people.

Additionally, students may utilize one of the university operated buses to get around town. The university busses operate in most of the main areas of campus daily as well as the community bus service Mountain Line which operates all day, evening and until the early morning hours. Students may use their Mountaineer Card (student ID) to ride the Mountain Line bus for free. The Health Science Center also operates a shuttle service to help students, visitors and patients to get to and from the Health Science Center campus. Many non-university, private student housing communities in the area also operate a shuttle to campus/town and back to the housing community.

Parking in the Morgantown area is very limited and freshman are discouraged from bringing personal vehicles to school. Traffic is often severliy congested in the area during sporting events (escpecially football games) and during the fall move in period.

[edit] Residential Education

Boreman Hall, one of the oldest residence halls on campus.
Boreman Hall, one of the oldest residence halls on campus.

One of the flagship programs of the University is the Residential Education (ResEd) program also enacted in 1995. This program which was the work of Prsident David C. Hardesty JR. works hand-in-hand with other University initiatives to promote a healthy and responsible living environment for students while focusing on academics and responsible decisions. As part of Operation Jump-Start, the current ResEd program focuses primarily on "promoting student success by easing the transition from high school to college and to personalize the freshman experience. [3]" During the Move-In or Welcome Weekend, returning upperclassmen sometimes volunteer to help the new students and are known as Residential Education HOTSHOTS. They help carry in items, give directions, answer questions, and are easily spotted in their gold t-shirts. Other Operation Jump-Start programs include FallFest, WVUp All Night, Freshman Convocation, the Festival of Ideas, a lecture series featuring different speakers, and Adventure West Virginia a unique outdoor orientation program for first year students.

Although a campus-wide plan, the ResEd and Operation Jump-Start programs are primarily focused on residence halls. The 14 residence halls have an intricate administrative network that works to improve the life of student residents and provide them with guidance and academic support. Each individual hall is assigned a Resident Faculty Leader (RFL, pronounced riffle), that oversees all programming aspects of the hall and lives in a house (usually next door to the hall) where students meet for Hall Council meetings and other planned events. In many instances the RFL acts as a surrogate parent in that they provide advice to residents. Each hall is also assigned a Residence Hall Coordinator (RHC) who works closely with the RFL to oversee hall programming and is responsible for more hands-on daily operations of the hall including discipline and enforcement of hall regulations. Along with these two positions is the Resident Assistant (RA), who is either an undergraduate or graduate student who has lived in the residence halls for at least one year and who take responsibility for the daily operations of one floor each. This three part system or RFL, RHC, and RA have significantly improved the day to day lives of students living in the residence halls and have been nationally recognized and duplicated. Many residence halls have peer tutors available right in the hall, if a student needs extra help.

The residence hall also has a group of individuals known as night staff who provide support to the residence hall staff. Night staff consists of many graduate and older undergraduate students who staff the desks and lobbies of the halls. Night staff also conducts roving patrols of the halls in the early morning and late evening hours. Generally night staff has very similar duties and authority as RAs but with the exception of not living in the residence hall.

WVU's newest Residence Hall is Lincoln Hall a 350 bed dormitory which incorporates modern technology and convenience with WVU's nationally recognized Residence Education Program. WVU also has a special residence hall for International Students appropriately titled the International House.

[edit] Athletics

Main article: West Virginia Mountaineers

The school's sports teams are called the Mountaineers and compete in the Big East Conference, a member of the NCAA's Division I. The school has teams in 13 college sports and has won several national championships (including multiple NCAA Rifle Championships (13x), track, and wrestling.)

Mountaineer sports were started in 1891 when a group of students organized the first football game at the school.

Some of the most notable athletes at West Virginia University are; Stan "The Man" Boskovich, Jerry West (NBA Great), Sam Huff, "Hot Rod" Hundley, Rod Thorn, Joe Stydahar, Jeff Hostetler, Major Harris, Dan Mozes, Jerry Porter, Kevin Pittsnogle, Marc Bulger, Avon Cobourne, Mike Vanderjagt, Todd Sauerbrun, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Greg Jones (Three-time national champion in wrestling), Nate Carr (wrestling), Mike Mason (Wrestling), Georgann Wells (1st Woman to dunk in league competition), Amos Zereoue, Quincy Wilson, Chris Henry, Mike Gansey, and Steve Slaton.

[edit] School Traditions

One of the reasons WVU has such a strong history in athletics is perhaps because of the many traditions at the university. Several of the school traditions and icons are listed below:

[edit] Flying WV

The "Flying WV"

The logo of the university is known as the "Flying WV," which is one of the most popular items to emerge from the Don Nehlen (former coach of WVU Football) era of Mountaineer football. The logo was quickly adopted as the official university logo.

[edit] The Mountaineer

The Mountaineer was adopted in 1890 as the official school mascot. A new Mountaineer is selected every year by the school's senior honorary, The Mountain. The new Mountaineer is given a custom tailored outfit and carries a traditional rifle which is fired to mark the opening of sporting events. Male Mountaineers traditionally grow a beard and wear a coonskin cap.

[edit] Take Me Home, Country Roads

The John Denver song "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which has become a de facto anthem for the state, has also been adopted by WVU as its unofficial theme song. It is commonly played at most home sporting events as well as other occasions on campus. John Denver himself showed up in 1980 to help dedicate the new Mountaineer Field, now called Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, and led the crowd in "Take Me Home, Country Roads." It is now part of a new tradition: After a victory, fans are encouraged to stay in the stands and sing "Take Me Home, Country Roads" along with the football team. This tradition was ranked #3 on Sports Illustrated's 102 More Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate list in 2006.

[edit] The Pride of West Virginia—The Mountaineer Marching Band

The Pride of West Virginia at the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl
The Pride of West Virginia at the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl

The WVU Marching Band, nicknamed the Pride of West Virginia, was formed in 1901 as an all-male ROTC band. The band performs at every home football game and makes many other appearances on- and off-campus throughout the year.

During its traditional pre-game performance, the band enters Milan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field from end-zone tunnels to a spirited, 220-beats per minute "run on" cadence. The band plays several university songs and favorites including: "Fight, Mountaineers," "Mountain Dew," "Simple Gifts" (from Appalachian Spring), "West Virginia University's Alma Mater," "The Star Spangled Banner," "Country Roads," and "Hail West Virginia!" The band also forms several iconic images during its pre-game show including the Flying WV, WVU, expanding circles, and an outline of the state of West Virginia. Each season's pre-game show is similar but unique.

The Mountaineer Marching Band is renowned for its high energy performances, outstanding musical arrangements, and innovative drill moves. In 1997, the WVU Band was awarded the Sudler Trophy by the John Philip Sousa Foundation in recognition of its tradition of excellence.

The WVU band is also known for being one of the few college marching band to include a male baton twirler.

[edit] Fight song

"Hail, West Virginia" is the fight song for the university. It was composed by WVU alumni Earl Miller and Ed McWhorther in 1915. The lyrics were written by Fred B. Deem, who later became a lawyer in Clarksburg. The Mountaineer Marching Band performs the second verse of "Hail, West Virginia" as part of its pregame performance at Mountaineer football games. The lyrics are available at the WVU Alumni page.

[edit] Roll out the carpet!

One of college basketball’s great traditions was introduced by Fred Schaus at West Virginia University in 1955. It was during that time that Schaus and Mountaineer supporter Alex Mumford came up with the idea of rolling out an elaborate gold and blue carpet for the Mountaineer players to run out on during pregame warm-ups. In addition, Mountaineer players warmed up with a special gold and blue painted basketball.

West Virginia University continued this tradition during the George King era until it was interrupted in the late 1960s. Former Mountaineer player Gale Catlett reintroduced the carpet when he returned to West Virginia in 1978 as head Men's Basketball Coach, and it has since become the highlight of pregame introductions at the WVU Coliseum.

[edit] Notable alumni

See Alumni of WVU

[edit] Trivia

  • In 1997,1999,2001 WVU was named the #1 party school in the nation by The Princeton Review. Allegedly, in 2002, WVU officials sued and reached a settlement with the Princeton Review to not include WVU in its annual rankings; however in 2007 WVU appeared as #3 party school in the nation in Princeton Review's annual "Best 361 College Rankings" list.
  • WVU also perenially makes the list under other categories, most notably its student-run daily newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum. The DA, as it's known around campus, is a widely read publication that competes with Morgantown's city daily newspaper. It is the only college daily and the 10th-largest newspaper in the state of West Virginia; its readership is estimated at about 35,000. It is not affiliated with the school's journalism school; it is almost completely self-sufficient through funds generated by advertisement sales.
  • WVU's Department of Public Safety (Police Department) is one of the largest police departments in the State of West Virginia and in the profesional law enforcement community the department is often regarded as one of the most trained, best equipped, and most profesional police departments in the state.
  • WVU students staged a riot against the National Guard in the spring of 1970, shortly after the shootings at Kent State.
  • Over 300 student organizations exist on campus, ranging from the Astronomy Club to a Gaming Club to a Community Service Club.
  • The Mechanical Engineering, Athletic Training, Nursing, Physics, and some Education programs have 100% job placement rates.
  • The Morgantown Fire Department released that WVU students had set over 1,200 street fires from 1997-2005 (mostly couches and furniture). Primarily, fires were set subsequent to WVU football games which had taken place at night. This is the highest incident rate of intentionally set fires in the United States.
  • The WVU College of Law which has been educating law students for 126 years is often regarded as one of the best law schools in the United States.
  • The Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center, which is also part of the Ruby Memorial Hospital (West Virginia University Hospital) the teaching hospital of WVU is the only nationally certified Level I trauma center in West Virginia and serves a significant geographic area . The hospital also was designated as a Magnet hospital for its ability to attract and retain high caliber skilled nursing staff. The hospital also often draws people from the tri-state area to Morgantown to receive medical treatment. The hospital also has one of the best neurology departments in the country.
  • The official logo of the NBA which consists of a basketball player's silhouette is actually a silhouette of Jerry West a famous NBA player and NBA executive who played basketball at WVU when he was a student. Jerry West has also made several generous contributions to WVU and in return for his generosity the City of Morgantown has renamed a major roadway “Jerry West Boulevard”. His Morgantown home has also been preserved and marked as a point of interest and most recently a bronze life size statue of Jerry West was erected outside the blue gate of the WVU Coliseum. His jersey number "44" has also been retired in his honor.

[edit] External links

Big East Conference
Football: Cincinnati • Connecticut • Louisville • Pittsburgh • Rutgers • South Florida • Syracuse • West Virginia
Non-football: DePaul • Georgetown • Marquette • Notre Dame • Providence • St. John's • Seton Hall • Villanova


State universities in West Virginia
Bluefield State • Concord • Fairmont State • Glenville State  
Marshall • Shepherd • West Liberty State • WV State  
WV School of Osteopathic Medicine • WVU • WVU Tech  
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