(09-14-2021 03:51 PM)Statefan Wrote:  

(09-14-2021 02:52 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Difference between West Virginia and other states:

In Pennsylvania, there's Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple, PASSHE universities, and Penn State branch campuses. There should be a responsibility for PA to educate anyone who graduated from a PA high school but no one said the Penn State University Park campus had to. In California, there are tons of UC and Cal State campuses so Berkeley and UCLA can be selective, the other schools in California can take the other students. In Florida, you have UF, FSU, UCF, USF, and probably other schools Floridians know that I don't. How many 4 year public universities are there in West Virginia? That's the issue. Not to mention they don't have a large population to choose from. Why are the public schools in California, Texas (outside of TTU), and Florida higher in the rankings? More in state students to choose from. If more people apply for a school and a fixed number of seats, the acceptance rate goes down. Some academic traditionalists frown on athletics but you don't think winning a national championship or two draws recognition to schools across the country? If it wasn't for their men's basketball team, how many of you would even have heard about Gonzaga? I'm not saying every high school senior in the country is considering Alabama or Clemson but them winning national championships can't hurt interest in those universities.

55% of the admissions at WVa are from Out of State. https://www.thedaonline.com/news/class-o...e3ce0.html

Other public 4 year schools in West Va are

West Va State
Bluefield State
Marshall
WVa Wesleyan
West Liberty

Go here to understand what is happening in West Virginia and what has been happening over the last 50 years: https://worldpopulationreview.com/states...population

Every state also has plenty of junior/community colleges. Transfers into 4-year schools generally aren't considered in these rankings.

(09-14-2021 11:42 AM)JAE_VT Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:04 AM)random asian guy Wrote:  I have to say this: WVU is the dead last at 249.

The reason WVU is dead last is because they are mandated by the state government of West Virginia to accept any person who graduated from high school in West Virginia. TBH, isn't this exactly what we want from a state's land grant educational institution? I mean, honestly, what the heck are our universities turning into? University Presidents who pride themselves and measure against one another by the number of students that their institutions deny admittance as opposed to providing educational opportunities to our fellow Americans. Wasn't the whole purpose of these land grant institutions to provide education to the masses? Is this really something that we should be so proud of as a society, praising a university by how many people they deny? Quite frankly, a lot of these comments have the wiff of Elitism and that is so surprising given the number of red states that are represented in this conference. /rant

A failed mission if its intent is to train future West Virginians. Most WVU grads (in-state and out-of-state students alike) probably leave the state for greener pastures after graduation, so the state never benefits from their talents, energies, and expertise. The upshot is that the State of West Virginia continues to rank near the bottom in just about every metric except opioid addiction. West Virginia needs to reassess its educational priorities, and it needs to shift its economic emphasis away from extractive industries like coal. Coal is dead.

(09-15-2021 09:51 AM)colohank Wrote:  

(09-14-2021 11:42 AM)JAE_VT Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:04 AM)random asian guy Wrote:  I have to say this: WVU is the dead last at 249.

The reason WVU is dead last is because they are mandated by the state government of West Virginia to accept any person who graduated from high school in West Virginia. TBH, isn't this exactly what we want from a state's land grant educational institution? I mean, honestly, what the heck are our universities turning into? University Presidents who pride themselves and measure against one another by the number of students that their institutions deny admittance as opposed to providing educational opportunities to our fellow Americans. Wasn't the whole purpose of these land grant institutions to provide education to the masses? Is this really something that we should be so proud of as a society, praising a university by how many people they deny? Quite frankly, a lot of these comments have the wiff of Elitism and that is so surprising given the number of red states that are represented in this conference. /rant

A failed mission if its intent is to train future West Virginians. Most WVU grads (in-state and out-of-state students alike) probably leave the state for greener pastures after graduation, so the state never benefits from their talents, energies, and expertise. The upshot is that the State of West Virginia continues to rank near the bottom in just about every metric except opioid addiction. West Virginia needs to reassess its educational priorities, and it needs to shift its economic emphasis away from extractive industries like coal. Coal is dead.

The sports boards are not really the place to discuss what is wrong with West Va and how to fix it.

A lot of forces have exploited West Va from the outside for the last 200 years (it began before they were their own state).

Real solutions are very, very difficult and traumatic - something that Americans do not want to undertake or pay for.

A number of US States have evolved a geography that no longer serves big chunks of their residents. You can't address West Virginia without addressing Western Pa, and Southeastern Ohio (they should be their own State of Westsylvania) The Ohio River rather than being a border, needs to be the heart of the new State. The eastern panhandled needs to be given back to Va or MD. Parts of Eastern KY and even SW Va could be moved into the new State. Now make Morgantown the New State capital and have the Federal Government build a new federal enclave in or near Pikeville (VA Hospital, perhaps a Social Security or Medicare administrative processing center). Then you do the hard part, you move "river rats" and "hollar folk" out of the hinterlands and near an urbanized center and turn large swaths over to national forest or park cutting the cost of servicing these rural people and giving them opportunities. Like is said, the solution is very, very difficult, and traumatic. Under the banner of "freedom" the current folk in West Virginia have the freedom to live and die poor. The University can't help but be a reflection of this problem.

Don't let my usual condescension fool you - the plight of these people tear me apart because many, many of them are my relatives and despite my intellect and education I can not help them even when I have tried.

(09-14-2021 01:23 PM)Shannon Panther Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:04 AM)random asian guy Wrote:  I have to say this: WVU is the dead last at 249.

The mission of WVU is to educate the residents of WV. They have a very liberal admission policy if you are in state. They don't have any choice, it is how they were chartered. If memory serves, Louisville is in a similar situation. Maybe a UL poster can clarify.

U of L has a long and complicated history, tracing it's roots back to 1798 as the first city owned public university in the United States, and one of the first universities west of the Allegheny mountains.

It didn't join the state wide system until 1970, which was controversial, and difficult to achieve politically. But the law school and the med school were looked at as assets to the state wide system, so U of L made the cut.

It's mission is to be a premier metropolitan research university .... but it also is supposed to serve the community, which includes marginally acceptable students, and non-traditional, full-time-working students (who tend to take longer to graduate, reflecting negatively on graduation rates) ... so when it comes to these types of rankings, U of L usually fares poorly.

The trend lines are positive though ... and have made some gargantuan leaps in the last twenty five to thirty years.



Now you know more than you ever cared to.

(09-15-2021 10:22 AM)Statefan Wrote:  

(09-15-2021 09:51 AM)colohank Wrote:  

(09-14-2021 11:42 AM)JAE_VT Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:04 AM)random asian guy Wrote:  I have to say this: WVU is the dead last at 249.

The reason WVU is dead last is because they are mandated by the state government of West Virginia to accept any person who graduated from high school in West Virginia. TBH, isn't this exactly what we want from a state's land grant educational institution? I mean, honestly, what the heck are our universities turning into? University Presidents who pride themselves and measure against one another by the number of students that their institutions deny admittance as opposed to providing educational opportunities to our fellow Americans. Wasn't the whole purpose of these land grant institutions to provide education to the masses? Is this really something that we should be so proud of as a society, praising a university by how many people they deny? Quite frankly, a lot of these comments have the wiff of Elitism and that is so surprising given the number of red states that are represented in this conference. /rant

A failed mission if its intent is to train future West Virginians. Most WVU grads (in-state and out-of-state students alike) probably leave the state for greener pastures after graduation, so the state never benefits from their talents, energies, and expertise. The upshot is that the State of West Virginia continues to rank near the bottom in just about every metric except opioid addiction. West Virginia needs to reassess its educational priorities, and it needs to shift its economic emphasis away from extractive industries like coal. Coal is dead.

The sports boards are not really the place to discuss what is wrong with West Va and how to fix it.

A lot of forces have exploited West Va from the outside for the last 200 years (it began before they were their own state).

Real solutions are very, very difficult and traumatic - something that Americans do not want to undertake or pay for.

A number of US States have evolved a geography that no longer serves big chunks of their residents. You can't address West Virginia without addressing Western Pa, and Southeastern Ohio (they should be their own State of Westsylvania) The Ohio River rather than being a border, needs to be the heart of the new State. The eastern panhandled needs to be given back to Va or MD. Parts of Eastern KY and even SW Va could be moved into the new State. Now make Morgantown the New State capital and have the Federal Government build a new federal enclave in or near Pikeville (VA Hospital, perhaps a Social Security or Medicare administrative processing center). Then you do the hard part, you move "river rats" and "hollar folk" out of the hinterlands and near an urbanized center and turn large swaths over to national forest or park cutting the cost of servicing these rural people and giving them opportunities. Like is said, the solution is very, very difficult, and traumatic. Under the banner of "freedom" the current folk in West Virginia have the freedom to live and die poor. The University can't help but be a reflection of this problem.

Don't let my usual condescension fool you - the plight of these people tear me apart because many, many of them are my relatives and despite my intellect and education I can not help them even when I have tried.

But apparently a sports board is the place to propose redrawing state boundaries which would affect not only West Virginia, but also Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia.

I also have an affinity for West Virginia, but not for its crappy, backward politics and inbred attitudes. My mother was born in Huntington and raised in Charleston, where I spent a lot of time as a youngster. She escaped by going to college out-of-state and making a life elsewhere. Her dad was an engineer and architect who spent his entire working life at the Carbide and Carbon (now Union Carbide?) chemical complex in South Charleston/St. Albans. I've also spent time in Harpers Ferry with the National Park Service.

Too bad the powers-that-be can't or won't reflect on the potential of the state's abundant natural beauty to draw investment. As a recreation destination, it would be within an easy day's drive of an immense segment of our nation's population.

The university "could" help but be a reflection of West Virginia's ills. And it should. Having the will to promote innovation instead of adhering to policies that have proven ineffective would be a good place to start.