Fairmont State Board of Governors Vote for Expansion of College of Nursing, Tuition Hike among Others
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on May 12, 2022
The Fairmont State University Board of Governors convened last week, Thursday, May 5, approving agenda items presented by the Academic Affairs and Finance Committees.
The Board approved a curriculum proposal from the Academic Affairs Committee to expand the University’s College of Nursing by establishing a traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The proposed curriculum was developed to enroll a new population of nursing students at Fairmont State and to complement the existing Associate of Science in Nursing and Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs.
Fairmont State University Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost, Dianna Phillips, announced several grants received recently by the University, including a $1 million grant received by the College of Nursing. The funds are expected to support up to 20 new nursing students at Fairmont State, provided through the WV Nursing Workforce Expansion Program.
Phillips explained funding from the grant received from the workforce expansion program will also be utilized to develop curriculum for the proposed traditional BSN program.
“We were able to leverage the grant to the best interest of the institution,” Phillips said.
Additionally, Phillips noted a partnership among faculty from the College of Education, Health & Human Performance and College of Science & Technology has resulted in a $47,782 grant from the WV-INBRE to support new biomedical research initiatives at Fairmont State. The grant funding has been utilized to purchase a state-of-the-art DEXA scanner for body composition assessment.
“I just want to commend to you the work of the two different faculties from the two different colleges working together to bring state-of-art equipment and curriculum to our Exercise Science and Biology programs,” Phillips said.
The Board of Governors voted to continue several of the University’s programs that were up for review, according to recommendations from the Academic Affairs Committee. The discontinuation of the Associate of Science in Architectural Engineering was also proposed and approved.
The proposal for the University’s tuition and fees for Fiscal Year 2023 was presented during the Finance Committee report, with the Board voting in support of a $158 per semester increase. Fairmont State University Chief Financial Officer, Christa Kwiatkowski, noted Fairmont State has only raised tuition an average of 2% for the last three years.
Kwiatkowski, explained the University currently has the third lowest tuition rate among four-year higher education institutions within the state, and the Finance Committee anticipates tuition costs for Fairmont State students will continue to remain on the low end of the state’s tuition spectrum.
Fairmont State University Board of Governors Chairman, David Goldberg, complimented Kwiatkowski and the Finance Committee’s efforts.
“It’s never easy to raise prices,” Goldberg said. “We also have to be prudent that there is an investment that needs to be made, and I think we’re doing it very well.”
The next full Board of Governors meeting will take place on Thursday, June 16 in the Falcon Center. For more information, visit www.fairmontstate.edu/bog.
