Clements shares his vision for the future with the WVU community

Life-changing. Empowering. Affordable. These were just some of the words West Virginia University President James P. Clements received in his "Share Your Vision" survey to describe WVU.

Clements in turn used these words to describe WVU's current position.

"There is positive momentum and progress. We are moving forward. I now stand pleased to report that the University is stable and ready to move forward," Clements said in Monday's State of the University address.

Clements said the "Share Your Vision" survey has garnered about 600 responses from across the country and around the world and is still a work in progress.

He said he has noticed themes from the responses, four of which align with themes established by the Association of American Universities themes.

Those include: academic and faculty quality, funded research, undergraduate experience and education, and graduate education. To these, Clements added WVU's impact on the state, health care, multiculturalism and globalization.

Clements said the University has hit record-highs in terms of enrollment but still needs to deal with many issues.

"We can't lose sight of the fact that this University is very tuition dependent," Clements said.

With almost 32,000 students enrolled in all WVU schools and about 1,800 full-time faculty, the current 27-to-1 student to faculty ratio and large classes sizes must be addressed.

"It is a fact that we have incredible scholars on this campus ... but a 27-to-1 student to faculty ratio is simply too high," Clements said.

He promised to add 100 new faculty members over the next three years.

In addition, he said the University has been catering to undergraduate and master's degree students and must work to increase the number of doctoral degrees earned.

The University has seen a 4 percent increase in graduate and professional students, a 17 percent increase in freshman honors students, a 7.3 percent increase in international students and a 10 percent increase in online and extended learning classes, Clements said.

When it comes to research, WVU has steadily increased its initiatives but still needs to do more, he said.

"Research takes many forms. We should value the many forms of research and the many disciplines they cross. However, we're often ranked based on funded research," Clements said.

Last year, the University saw an 8 percent increase in funded research going from $140 million to more than $152 million.

Additionally, in the first three months of this fiscal year, the University received $25 million in competitive federal grants.

However, the University is still behind in research funds in comparison to other schools.

Financially, the University is stable, Clements said.

He said WVU saw a $9.4 million increase in net assets for the 2009 fiscal year. The WVU Foundation saw a negative 29.9 percent return on investments but still earned more than $55 million.

Facilities on campus have also been improved, and more improvements are scheduled for the future.

In the last few months, the University has spent about $50 million on capital improvements, Clements said.

He announced a plan to dedicate $1.5 million from capital funds to improve and expand recreational field space for intramural sports.

Student Government Association President Jason Zucarri praised this move, saying it signifies Clements' commitment to student issues.

Clements said he has also been working hard to build his team and administration.

"One of my greatest priorities was to add great new leaders," Clements said.

The University received impressive applicants for fields such as provost, registrar and Health Sciences chancellor.

"I think that's a testament to how good we really are. People want to be here," Clements said.

"We have a lot to be proud of. This is a wonderful University, and people are working extremely hard."

Faculty Senate Chair Nigel Clark said two concrete faculty issues that Clements addressed were the addition of 100 new faculty members and increasing the efficiency of the research proposal process.

"In reality, to grow research substantially, we do need to have more faculty," Clark said.

He added that previously, Clements had talked about the University successes, and now that he has started to assemble his team, he is more focused on taking action.

"I think it's great he touched on all different aspects," Zuccari said.

Zuccari added that Clements hit on topics that have been previously talked about a lot and are now being acted on.