CommunityConcerns™: How Did Glenville State Fare with Its Report Card?

Throughout central West Virginia there are increasing concerns about the College’s survival.

Dr. Peter Barr and the College’s Board of Governors adamantly assure citizens that concerns are meritless, the institution enjoys unparalleled enrollment growth, and its future is solidly secure.

Are these assessments truly valid based on available information including statistics in the State’s Higher Education Policy Commission document entitled Report Card 2011?

College’s Retention and Graduation Rates

# For first-year, full-time freshmen only 33.1 % of them graduated from the College or any other institution in the State’s higher education system within six years. This percentage ranked the College in 9th place for the graduation rate among the 11 State institutions in its group.

# For incoming, first-time freshmen there was a drop-out rate of 33.7% the first year which was the 7th worst ranking among 11 institutions in the College’s group.

On-Campus Versus Off-Campus Enrollment

There is interest in separating on-and-off campus enrollment for comparisons, but information in the Report Card was inadequate for an evaluation of the issue. Citizens, business owners, and landlords in Gilmer County question if on-campus enrollment is robust as touted by the College’s officials, and confusion escalated when a former Board of Governors member cited an on-campus enrollment of 2,000.

Do Off-Campus Enrollments Explain Reported Enrollment Surges For The College?

# From 2006-2010 there was a 114.7% increase of students 25 years old and older. For the same period male enrollment elevated 39.3%. The unusual increase for males was out of sync with national trends, and the increase of older students at the College for 2006-2010 was the highest among the 11 bachelor’s degree awarding institutions in the College’s group.

# There is a common perception that counts of male inmate students at the all-male federal prison contributed to major enrollment upticks at the College. Also, assuming that off-campus enrollment numbers for high school students taking dual credit instruction and numbers for students at the Morris Criminal Justice Center were included in enrollment figures, those numbers may have contributed to the overall enrollment increase, albeit it was not restricted to the main campus.

# For 2006-2010 the full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment at the College increased 20.7% with an increase of 265 FTEs from 2007-2010. The 20.7% increase ranked the College the highest in its 11 institution group. FTEs are defined by adding up credit hours taken by all students and dividing that number by 15.

# The 265 FTE jump from 2007-2010 fueled speculation that the reported enrollment surge may have been caused by including enrollment numbers for off-campus prison inmates, but counting of off-campus high school students in dual credit classes and State trainees at the Morris Center may have contributed too.

Financial Data for the College Involving Costs to Students

# From 2002-2011 the College had a 98.2% increase in tuition and fees for West Virginia residents. This is the highest increase in the College’s 11 institution group including West Virginia University and Marshall University.

# The College lacks university status with attendant overhead costs, and the average pay for its faculty members ($48,905) is the lowest among the 11 State institutions in its group so faculty pay may have contributed insignificantly to the 98.2% increase in tuition and fees.

# From 2007-2011 the College had a 34.2% increase in cost for West Virginia students residing on- campus. The cost ($13,252) included money for tuition, fees, board and room, but not other expenses including those for books and miscellaneous personal expenditures. The 34.2% increase exceeded that of the other 9 State institutions in the College’s group, at which campus housing was provided.

# The annual student cost for tuition, fees, board and room, but not other expenses is $13,252 ranking the College the 4th most expensive one in West Virginia in its group of 9 State institutions with student housing.

# Information was lacking in the Report Card to verify how much the $13,252 cost per year for on-campus residents may have been affected by the College’s students having to pay off utility bonds approved by the Gilmer County Commission to construct Pioneer Village and the $28,000,000 debt incurred for the Goodwin Hall project.

# The estimated cost per year for on-campus student residents, in addition to the $13,252 cost cited immediately above is $4,316 per year to make the total yearly cost for each student to approximate $17,568. This cost ranks the College the 4th most expensive in its group for annual expenses per student residing on campus.

# From 2006-2010 the average change in debt load for earning a bachelor’s degree graduate at the College increased 48.3% to total to $24,995 for 2010. The percentage increase was the highest among the 11 institutions in the College’s group, and the $24,995 total debt ranked the College 3rd highest among the 11 institutions in its group.  Reasons for the debt may include difficulty for the College’s students to complete degrees in four years in addition to their being required paying off the College’s debt.

Dr. Barr and the College’s Board of Governors, particularly Mrs. I. L. Morris, the Board’s president, are invited to respond to information in this review to ensure full transparency and accuracy.

Also, it would be informative for the officials to reveal plans for improving unfavorable rankings addressed in this review and to define strategies for controlling and lowering costs to make college educations more affordable in Central West Virginia.

Lots of propaganda talk from the ‘hill’.
Lots of straight talk from the report ‘card’.
This old saying rings so true:
“Figures don’t lie, but liars can figure.“

Thank you for the analysis of Glenville State College’s information in the report card.

Unlike every other college or university in WV except one, the male enrollment significantly exceeds the female enrollment. This is further evidence that prison inmates have been a primary source of GSC’s enrollment growth.

It would also account for the relatively small amount of four year degrees awarded by the college given the enrollment

The college is facing a future without the diversity of programs offered by competing schools. Instead the board of governors seems to have chosen to give the college what appears to be a face lift in the hope of attracting students. Has that worked?

If WV enters a financial crisis like many other states, what will prevent GSC from ending up on the chopping block or being transferred to the control of another institution like Fairmont or WVU with the corresponding loss of local jobs?

The Report Card is crammed with numbers in need of interpretation. For one example, look at page 12. If the FTE count for 2010 for each of the eight bachelor’s awarding institutions (8) is divided by bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2010 by that institution, Glenville State ranked 7 out of 8 for a poor showing. Does this suggest that graduating West Virginians with bachelor’s degrees in no longer emphasized at the College, there is an unbalance of students not enrolled in bachelor’s programs or does the statistic relate to the College’s students having to take more than four years to graduate? Regardless, it is justified to ask if the College is giving WV taxpayers their money’s worth compared to the other institutions? Dr. Barr and BOG members, this is the type of close scrutiny coming down the pike.

The low number of bachelor degrees indicates in part that the enrollment numbers have been inflated by inmates at the prison. It’s doubtful that the inmates are enrolled in programs to attain a four year degree.

The other indicator is the drop out rate. Those students won’t receive degrees from GSC.

When the college replaced a perfectly good steel roof on the Fine Arts Building because it was the wrong color, you get some insight into the BOG’s priorities. Apparently the BOG is more concerned about how things look, and athletics of course, rather than how well the college is doing academically.

The nursing program fiasco, which previously surprised the BOG, shows how out of touch the BOG is.

What happened to the foreign students on the campus? What’s the number of out of state students vs in-state students at the college?

The college may see this as an us vs. them situation, but most know that without the college in Gilmer County, the county will suffer greatly.

Information in the Report Card has triggered intense demand for full transparency and accountability at the College. Emphasis shifted away from a mission of providing quality educations at affordable prices to building and appearances. Regarding finances, the unit cost concept is basic in the private sector. It would be revealing for accurate accounting to occur to include all costs, obvious and hidden, to document the total institutional cost per bachelor’s degree produced at the College for comparison to that cost at other State colleges and universities. The exercise would have to include a thorough analysis of finances of the Pioneer Athletics Club, the Foundation, the Research Corporation, and the Housing Corporation. Presently, financial dealings are hidden to promote beliefs that a shell game is operating at the College.

Mind blowing! Prior to Larry Chapman and Brian Kennedy approving the $28,000,0000 County bond issue for Goodwin Hall, College officials including the two Butcher brothers claimed the dorm was needed to accommodate the overflow from Picken’s Hall due to an enrollment surge, Ike campaigned for the bond issue with gusto, and it went through without voter approval. Now we learn that the Picken’s Hall overflow claim was untrue, it is no longer used to house students, the College purchased a motel claiming that the space was needed for the criminal justice program, and we learned that the highly celebrated enrollment surge was engineered by enrolling prison students. Did any of this involve fraud? We need an investigation, preferably by the feds. Tell us where any of this is wrong.

Pete White and everyone.  You say “mind blowing!“ ?  No.  Not really.
The community for the past 20+ years, has known that GSC operates as “GSC does”.
It has gone dramatically downhill since Dr Simmons retired.  Nothing made public anymore.
Until after the fact.  Hide behind a big, tall wall of silence.  The GSC “gang” knows whats best for GSC….and everything else in GC I will add.  Whats a lie or two here and there?
This is the elitist way of operation.  We do it because we can and because of who we are.
But, Mr White, hang tight.  The wind has changed direction.  The smelly ‘stuff’ is slowly floating to the surface.  People do not have the fear of open discussion and talking like was once the
case in the “Land of Gil”.  If you have “right” on your side, you do not have to be afraid anymore.
Even the County Commission headed by Mr Kennedy himself, says we need “transparency”.  Now, don’t misunderstand, these changes are not happening willingly.  They know they best start to clean up the smelly stuff or they will be finding themselves smack dab right in the middle of it.
Think about the recent court case with the College, the lawyers, the PA, all in the middle of it.  The stench could be smelled all the way to Charleston.  Why do you think that Freedom of Information Lawsuit was filed?  Nothing like getting caught with you hand in the cookie jar.
These elitists do no longer make the community look bad.  They are turning the spotlights straight upon themselves.  Knowing the skeletons in the closets of some running for elected office, they might want to reconsider and withdraw there election bids.  The pot is simmering pretty good now.  It will boil over at some point.  These candidates know just what I am talking of..  Couple of them should run from the election.
Secrecy will no longer be tolerated.  Wrong doings will, and those doing it, also will be exposed.
Perpetrators of ill, deceit, back room deal making, are all on thin ice.  The ice is melting.
Mr Ramazan’s Gilmer Free Press is shining on that thin ice.  Thank you Mr Ramazan for all you are doing for our community.

According to reliable information a senior VP on the College’s payroll actively campaigned against Dr. Simmons’ hiring with the threat that if he were to be hired the State takeover would occur. The effort expended with interference in local affairs should have been directed at swamp cleaning at the College. Had Dr. Simmons been installed he would have been a treat to those running the College because he would have advocated for full transparency and accountability. That is what the College’s power crowd fears. Take Ike’s aborted project at Pioneer Field. Why the news censorship? Why don’t they openly admit that the highly publicized promises made to the community won’t be kept, the project has been stopped, its scope is being pared back, and the job is up for rebidding? No, they think that they can pull off their deception unnoticed because Gilmer’s citizens have impaired memory spans.

It has been stated here, the GC community financial health is tied closly with GSC financial health.
Can anyone provide these few statistics?
A graph showing the GSC incomes from 2000?
A graph showing the GSC indebtedness from 2000?
A graph showing the GSC asset values from 2000?
Then mark the year Pete came to town on said graphs?
Bet there would be more questions than answers.

If data on pages 12 and 16 are analyzed the College ranks eighth among nine institutions in its data set for numbers of grads earning bachelor’s degrees/total students enrolled. The College’s value is 161 degrees/1,831 enrolled=.088. Shepherd University ranked first for the statistic with a 76.2% higher value. Bluefield State had a 27.2% higher value compared to the College’s. The unit cost for total expenditures at institutions in the data set per bachelor’s degree produced could not be estimated. That type of information should be important when the WV Legislature appropriates money for the institutions.