May 9, 2008

Chairman of West Virginia U. Board Quits Post but Will Not Leave Board

Stephen P. Goodwin, chairman of West Virginia University’s Board of Governors, announced today that he would step down from its top position in July, the Associated Press reported. However, he said he would not leave the board before his term ends, in 2010.

Mr. Goodwin has close ties to the university’s embattled president, Michael S. Garrison. And Mr. Goodwin himself has come under fire as part of the wide-reaching controversy over the university’s awarding of an unearned degree to the daughter of West Virginia’s governor. He acknowledged that his decision to cede the leadership role was related to the uproar over the degree, which led two top administrators to resign last week.

“I don’t anticipate it will satisfy my critics,” Mr. Goodwin told the AP. “I just don’t want it to be the story. I want to take it out of the equation.”

Mr. Goodwin’s announcement came four days after the university’s Faculty Senate voted overwhelmingly to call for Mr. Garrison’s resignation. And it came on the same day that The Chronicle reported that Mr. Garrison and other university officials were considering appointing the governor’s daughter, Heather M. Bresch, to key advisory committees at roughly the same time she was awarded the unearned degree.

Mr. Goodwin has been a staunch supporter of Mr. Garrison. But it is unclear if his departure as chairman will harm Mr. Garrison, who appears to have the backing of the rest of the board. —Paul Fain

Comments

1. Just pushes around the sand. His overt disdain for faculty will remain on the Board. He was (one of?) the architect(s) of Garrison’s manipulated selection and the force on the selection committee that made it happen. His presence on the Board remains a slap in the face to faculty. His influence will not be diminished. The fact that the Governor allows a man who has contempt for the faculty, the core of any university, to be in a governing position over them, tells volumes about education in this State. (Of course, athletics is a different matter, it is front and center for the Governor.)

   — seriously    May 10, 07:38 AM    #

2. Mr. Goodwin is correct in that this will not satisfy his critics — or critics of other Board members who participated in the appointment of a president whose only qualifications were political ones. I hope that faculty at other universities are watching closely what is happening at WVU. Our story could be yours if presidential appointments at public flagship institutions become viewed as just another political plum.

   — Lou    May 10, 09:39 AM    #

3. Does Mr. Goodwin think stepping aside as chair will make any difference? It is a symbolic gesture. What is needed is an immediate response to a serious breach of academic integrity. When self serving politics enables a president and his staff to pull academic records “out of thin air” and remain at the helm of a solid, respected university, how can a board not act?

   — Concerned    May 10, 10:50 AM    #

4. First WVU is voted the top party school in the entire United States. Then there is the Rich Rodriguez controversy. Now this scandal. I am so very glad I didn’t attend WVU myself. The only way things could get worse for this institution is if Barack Obama were elected president!

   — Former West Virginian    May 12, 12:09 AM    #

5. The entire WVU faculty will meet this week in a rare Faculty Assembly (it’s been more than 30 years since the last one). The agenda item? Firing President Garrison and Chairman Goodwin.

   The news from WVU has been bad lately. The faculty has the chance to once again put academics first.

   I know many outstanding professors and students at WVU. They deserve better leadership.

   — Former WVU Prof    May 12, 07:13 AM    #

6. Garrison says he knows nothing about what went on in his conference room where the provost and dean of business met with his three closest staff members to create a degree for his former girl friend and business associate and the daughter of the governor who forced the board of trustees to hire him.
   Is this guy an idiot or just a hilljack from up a holler? This is going to go down in the annals of higher education as a classic tale of complete subornation of academic integrity to wanton political desires. Garrison is still not telling the truth but sorry he does not know the difference between the truth and his wanton desires.

   — fred smith    May 12, 07:34 AM    #

7. The castle walls continue to crumble. They may be hanging on, but they are not enjoying the ride.

   — Mike    May 12, 08:20 AM    #

8. 8. The faculty at WVU had better stick together or they will have Garrison and Goodwin around for many more years! These leaches will contiue to suck life from the university. A strong showing of the faculty will get rid of them for good.

   — LJ    May 12, 09:16 AM    #

9. The faculty at WVU had better stick together or they will have Garrison and Goodwin around for many more years! These leaches will contiue to suck life from the university. A strong showing of the faculty will get rid of them for good.

   — LJ    May 12, 09:19 AM    #

10. As a proud alum (with three degrees from WVU), I’m deeply concerned about the institution’s reputation. Everyone knows the party-school image that former President Hardesty tried to squelch, only to have it return full-bore in his final year. Everyone knows of the Rodriguez skirmishes.

    What not everyone knows is that WVU continues to produce the highest number of Rhodes, Truman, and Marshall scholars in the country. What not everyone knows is the outstanding, life-saving work taking place at the WVU Medical Center, serving the state’s citizens, every day. What not everyone knows is that the College of Education and Human Resources is the flagship for the Benedum Center for Education Renewal, spearheading statewide education reform and completely reconceputalizing teacher education — and serving as a model for other reform initiatives.

    I’m not worried about the political shenanigans themselves, because it all comes out in the wash eventually. I’m worried about the fallout.

    — TJ    May 12, 09:21 AM    #

11. The events at WVU are not unique in the Bush Kulture, and in many ways expose the incompetence and cronyism that led to the failures of Katrina, Iraq and the economy. I used to be among these people, basically a lot of slacker country clubbers.

    — original marci    May 12, 01:02 PM    #

12. Perhaps the Regents could lure Rich Rodriguez back from the University of Michigan to replace Michael Garrision as President. Hate mail to follow…

    — Gary Brooks    May 12, 01:37 PM    #

13. In response to “marci,” allow me to advise you that the “kulprits” in this scandal are hardly members of the “Bush Kulture.” Garrison is a Democrat; Manchin, father of the cheater, is the democrat governor of the state.

    Manchin is noted for his micromanaging of everything. That he did NOT know what his daughter and the university officials were doing is laughable.

    This problem is not unique to WVU. There are other institutions of higher education in the state of West Virginia that are being destroyed by political appointees.

    — Ted    May 12, 01:38 PM    #

14. WVU is being destroyed to the shame of every WEst Virginian. Mancini must go for he did it all.

    — fred smith    May 12, 01:46 PM    #

15. Garrison is simply a ladder climber who sucked up to Manchini and got the political appointment. Manchini will pay. WVU grads have decided to focus on Manchini. His uncle Joe caused the state to lose $500 million in the stock market when he was treasurer and now Joe Manchini is doing worse damage to the state’s top university.

    — Henry Collins    May 12, 01:53 PM    #

16. I am a first-generation college student, grand-daughter of coal miners, with two degrees from WVU. I am so sorry to see our great university in this situation. It was the WVU faculty who taught me about integrity, honesty, and the importance of giving my all to meet high academic standards. It is the WVU faculty, I have full faith, who will find a way to right this situation, and press to see that this never happens again. I admire the faculty for the stand they are taking. Alums everywhere are behind them. WVU is in my will, and it will stay there, because I believe in our faculty and in the basic decency of the people of the State. They will correct this situation.

    — Susan    May 12, 04:14 PM    #

17. amen brother

    — Henry Collins    May 12, 04:52 PM    #

18. I look forward to the day when “original marci” actually has something original to contribute. All of the parties in this controversy are Democrats, so your (predictable) Bush Bash was once again a case of Ready, Fire, Aim.

    — Michael    May 13, 04:52 PM    #

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