West Virginia University

West Virginia University Summary

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.” West Virginia University is also notoriously known for consistently being a top party school in the United States. The university offers 178 different majors in 15 different colleges and has produced 25 Rhodes Scholars, including current WVU president David C. As of July 1, 2005 Potomac State College became an fully integrated component of West Virginia University. 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. West Virginia University is organized in 15 different colleges or schools. 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. 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 , 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. 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. West Virginia University also includes Potomac State College which is located in Keyser, WV. In 1974, Boeing began construction on the major PRT project in Morgantown, West Virginia, designed to shuttle students between WVU’s three campuses. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Some of the most notable athletes at West Virginia University are; 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: 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 WVU Marching Band, nicknamed the Pride of West Virginia, was formed in 1901 as an all-male ROTC band. 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. “Hail, West Virginia” is the fight song for the university. The Mountaineer Marching Band performs the second verse of “Hail, West Virginia” as part of its pregame performance at Mountaineer football games. One of college basketball’s great traditions was introduced by Fred Schaus at West Virginia University in 1955. 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.

Summary content courtesy of Wikipedia.

West Virginia University Academics

Students with disabilities are not left alone with programs such as Partial Services/Facilities For Students With Learning Disabilities, Services/Facilities For Hearing Impaired, Services/Facilities For Speech Or Communications Disorders, Services/Facilities For Visually Impaired, Wheelchair Accessibility, 2500 work stations, available in: dorms, libraries, computer centers, student centers, Dorms Wired for Access to Campus-Wide Network, Email Accounts Provided to All Students, Online Course Registration for Freshmen, Commuter/Off-Campus Students Can Connect to Campus Network, Computer Repair Service Available On Campus, Computer Helpline Available, Dorms Wired for High Speed Internet Connections, Online Library, Discounted Computer Software for S