Bayless bowing out as WVU-Tech provost June 30

This article originially appeared in the May 29 edition of The Charleston Gazette, and is reprinted with permission.

By Veronica Nett, Staff writer

After three years at the helm of West Virginia University Institute of Technology, Charles Bayless will retire next month to pursue research in energy and coal at WVU.

Bayless announced Tuesday he will retire as campus provost June 30.
He said he plans to work on a volunteer basis in WVU's National Research Center for Coal and Energy - a field he said he is truly interested in and is excited about working in.

"I'm probably more useful there than I am here," he said.

Bayless was appointed as president of WVU-Tech in 2005. His title changed to campus provost when the school became a division of WVU in July 2007 (the school had been a regional campus of WVU since 1996).

A Kanawha County native, Bayless earned an electrical engineering degree from Tech in 1968 and both a master's degree in engineering and a law degree from WVU.

Bayless may be best remembered for his attempt to move WVU-Tech's engineering program to the Dow Technology Park in South Charleston. Gov. Joe Manchin announced the plan in his 2006 State of the State address, but public outcry from some faculty, students and Montgomery-area residents scuttled the proposal.

"It's about time," Gail Harlan, a member of the group Take Back Tech, said of Bayless' resignation. "We're just tickled to death that they got rid of him."

Bayless acknowledged there is no love lost between him and some Montgomery community members. "They have hardly begun to forgive me for trying to move Tech to Charleston," he said.

Still, he said his decision did not stem from pressure from the Montgomery community. He said he came to WVU-Tech with the attitude that he would "stay until I can fix it."

"I believe that I've accomplished what I came here to do," he said. "In the past three years, we've been able to provide our students with a state-of-the art engineering laboratory and new residence hall and dining facilities that were desperately needed. We've increased state funding by $1.8 million a year, and our application numbers for next fall are very strong."

Bayless credited Take Back Tech as an instrumental force behind WVU-Tech securing $3.2 million in funds from the Legislature for upgrades to the school's engineering program.

"I do appreciate what they have done," he said.

Associate provost Scott Hurst, who will serve as interim provost, said enrollment at WVU-Tech has stabilized, but the institution is still losing There's about a $1 million deficit," he said.

Since 2002, WVU-Tech has seen a 20.8 percent drop in enrollment, according to a report by the state Higher Education Policy Commission.

About half of that is from the loss of community college students, Hurst said. A 2000 law said community and technical colleges must be independent of four-year colleges. WVU-Tech's community college was accredited in 2004.

The Legislature is also conducting an audit of WVU-Tech's finances.

In June, Take Back Tech filed a lawsuit alleging WVU had failed to live up to its statutory obligation to produce a specific plan for WVU-Tech. Kanawha Circuit Judge Irene C. Berger agreed in January and gave WVU officials until May 1 to come up with a plan.

WVU-Tech officials, however, have yet to submit a master plan to the WVU Board of Governors for approval. Hurst hopes to have one together by the end of July.

Harlan said Take Back Tech members have met repeatedly with Hurst and back his appointment as interim provost.