MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — An anonymous group of West Virginia University employees has gone online to express their concerns and ask questions about the university’s current financial situation.
On May 24, 2023, a blog called “WVU Facts: The WVU Budget Crisis” appeared on the web hosting site WordPress. The opening paragraphs of the blog’s only current post claims that the authors are a group of employees affiliated with the non-bargaining union WV Campus Workers.
“We wish to remain anonymous because we think management would retaliate against us if they knew our identities,” the post reads. “We think that the current administration has advanced a misleading narrative about the recent and long-term causes of the current financial crisis at the university and their role in it.”
The post cites statements from university officials that it claims contradict the reasons given for the current financial crunch. It also links out to publicly available salary data on key university administrators and compares those salaries to other universities in the Big 12 Conference.
12 News reached out to WV Campus Workers via an email form embedded on their website, but have not yet received a response.
WVU released the following official statement Tuesday when contacted by 12 News.
The University has been and will continue to be transparent about its structural budget deficit, and we will continue to share information about the larger transformation initiatives as they develop over time. These communications include Campus Conversations, emails and a new website which serves as an ever-evolving hub for a variety of resources and information. We encourage those who wish to engage in the process to visit transformation.wvu.edu. Employees also are encouraged to send their questions and concerns to transformation@mail.wvu.edu so the University can address them.
West Virginia University
The university is currently reviewing “programs of concern,” which could be targeted for elimination or reduction as it tries to close a $45 million deficit.
