West Virginia University
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance

Board of Governors- Is the highest governing body and they oversee West Virginia University, Potomac State College of West Virginia University and West Virginia University Institute of Technology. (bog.wvu.edu)

Student Government Association- members represent the needs and concerns of the entire student body. They are involved in major projects and initiatives on campus. (sga.wvu.edu)

Faculty Senate- Includes 131 Senators representing the Morgantown, Beckley, and Keyser campuses. They are responsible for guiding WVU’s academic pursuits, and for communicating faculty opinions and concerns. (facultysenate.wvu.edu)

Staff Council- Promotes a positive work environment for all Classified Employees through effectively advocating for our peers in the University’s decision making process. (staffcouncil.wvu.edu)

WVU and the City of Morgantown hold monthly meetings to coordinate projects and events. Most collaboration focuses on infrastructure/urban planning and student programming such as popular athletic events or student move-in/out. Attending members include Auxiliary and Business Services administrators on the WVU side and engineers and the finance director on the city side, with others attending as needed. The City of Morgantown has more than a dozen advisory commissions on topics ranging from traffic to human rights. It also works with local non-profits and neighborhood associations. Any of these commissions and groups can give feedback and share ideas about WVU decisions and WVU/City collaborations and that feedback is discussed at this meeting.

In addition, there are a several other groups where WVU and community entities interact and collaborate. WVU, the City of Morgantown, and the Monongalia County Commission have a Pedestrian Safety Group to work on safety improvements for pedestrians and bicycles to a lesser extent through infrastructure, education, and enforcement. Just as in the city’s case, the Monongalia County Commission has several advisory boards made up of community members. The Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization (MMMPO), which plans everything from pedestrian improvements through major highway projects, has board seats for WVU, the City, and the County. The MMMPO holds regular meetings and schedules in-person roundtables and opportunities for written feedback for any plan it produces or projects it proposes. This group meets monthly and has two subcommittees that also meet monthly with representation from WVU and other entities. The Riverfront Revitalization Task Force also meets monthly and right now is working on a major project to share properties and management responsibilities for planned facilities.

The Morgantown Area Partnership is a group that consolidated three economic development entities to push forward projects together, along with WVU. Recent projects include supporting an airport runway extension and redevelopment of streetscape that is an important entrance to campus. This group meets monthly and receives financial support from WVU as well.

There are also two major facilities in Morgantown that are jointly used and managed by WVU and local government and/or non-profit entities. Mylan Park is a multi-use facility with a new aquatic center and track and field. WVU Athletics has user agreements and Mylan Park also opens these for the general public and events. A joint use management association (JUMA) is a recreation-focused group made up of WVU, non-profit, and county commission representation to make decisions about these facilities. The Monongalia County Ballpark is the home to WVU’s baseball team and a team of the Major League Baseball Draft League.