Destined for a bright future

As Senior Staff Writer Charles Young shares in his front page story, Gee, now 79, has not shied away from the tasks of helping to better prepare the university to better prepare students for the tomorrows of their world.

The lead architect of WVU’s academic transformation, Gee has worked tirelessly to position WVU while helping the institution correct a structural budget deficit that was about $45 million but if left unaddressed would have grown exponentially.

As Gee told the WV News Editorial Board of the painful process that included cutting some academic programs and faculty: “We marched into hell, but we marched through it. Now we’re on the other side.”

But that doesn’t mean the transformation is over. Gee is emphatic when he says that transformation must continue and become part of the school’s culture.

“I think any institution that tries to say it’s through transforming is an institution that’s dead,” he said. “We are through phase one. But, yes, we are going to continue to have transformation. But it’s going to be a part of our culture now.”

There is no question that the cuts made so far have been painful to those directly affected as well as those who have been in position to put them in place.

“I think it’s been more painful for the people with whom I work and others,” he said. “Because this is the first time they’ve been through it. I’ve been through it a lot, in different forms, different configurations, but I’ve been through it a lot. I’ve always taken pride in the fact that I think change is an imperative, but it comes at a price.”

And because higher education remains in some minds an “ivory tower” unable to be affected by the masses, the changes have given the university a bit of a black eye among some in the higher education community. Because of that, Gee and some of his top officials have been targets of criticism. One of the transformation’s chief leaders, Rob Alsop, vice president of strategic initiatives at his alma mater, has announced he’s leaving.

While that announcement didn’t tie his departure to the fallout from the transformation, we are sure some will see it as such. We have always found Alsop to be highly intelligent and know him to be a key part of not only the current transformation but much of the WVU success story.

What unfolded at WVU wasn’t Gee’s, Alsop’s or the Board of Governor’s fault. What we have seen there as well as at other colleges, both in state and in other parts of the nation, is the combination of declining population — and more importantly, declining interest in higher education. Those factors will continue to drive more schools to address programs that don’t pay their own way.

Reality says that college majors that have more professors than students lack the support to allow them to continue in the current marketplace. Colleges that find ways to effectively and efficiently provide programs that lead students to prosperous careers will grow and be sustainable.

To Gee’s credit, he admits mistakes were made along the way, some of which were corrected during the appeals process. But ultimately, he believes the university is better positioned to move forward.

“Did we make mistakes? Obviously. Did we correct mistakes? Yes. When you’re first in line, when you’re the point of the spear, you sometimes make mistakes,” he said. “But I think generally I feel really good about where we are.”

He said the school’s financial condition is stronger.

“We’re one of the few (higher education) institutions where our bonding agencies have given us a clean bill of health.”

All of this means that WVU will be able to invest in areas of study that better prepare students for the real world, which in turn should lead to higher levels of recruitment and retention.

But Gee knows the university’s brand has been damaged by the transformation and the reaction of some by it.

“We have to rebuild trust; we have to rebuild relationships,” he said. “Our culture was very strong before we started and we have to look at that. I would be silly if I’d say we didn’t have a lot of work to do, but I’d prefer to work on that than calling people up and saying we’re going to eliminate you, cut your budget and send you packing. I think that’s important.”

We have little doubt that Gee will spend his remaining time as president looking for ways to better the university and his adopted Mountain State. He has done much good during his times here and deserves credit for the university’s tremendous growth and success overall, as well as his willingness to tackle the tough tasks that have landed on his desk. The determination of a good presidency often takes the perspective that history provides. To be sure, Gee hasn’t skirted opportunity to make his mark.