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VIENNA -- A number of problems at Ohio Valley University could lead to the school losing its ability to grant degrees.
A meeting is set for 10 a.m. Friday in South Charleston before the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission where action is recommended to be taken to revoke OVU's authorization to confer degrees in the state of West Virginia, effective June 30, 2022, according to the agenda for the meeting.
If the commission takes that action, OVU would then be directed on the steps it "must take to wind down its operations pending loss of its authorization."
That could include not accepting or enrolling new students beginning with the Spring 2022 semester; not returning any current students to campus for the Spring 2022 semester, except for seniors scheduled to graduate at the end of the semester who wish to return to complete their degrees; developing and executing appropriate plans related to the teach-out or transfer of currently enrolled students; providing transcripts and financial aid records or assistance to students; and any other necessary and appropriate student services.
Around late October 2021, OVU students, parents and employees began reporting complaints to the commission office regarding an inability of the school to provide academic transcripts and the institution's failure to compensate employees for work performed for months, according to documents supplied by the HEPC on its website with the meeting agenda.
University officials said a bad computer server was preventing them from being able to provide the necessary data required under federal guidelines.
It was found a power surge caused the disc array to crash. The data is still there, but OVU has lost access to it. Also, PowerCAMPUS, the software system OVU uses to store and access student data and records, has not been updated in seven years.
The company that provides those software services won't help until OVU pays them for services. WVNET, a telecommunications contractor, is working with OVU so they can access its student data and create the records necessary for students to transfer or provide potential employers, according to documents provided by the commission.
The school's financial trouble began in the 2020-21 school year.
According to HEPC documents, on July 15, 2020 the commission placed OVU on probation "until its overall financial condition improved." Officials with the university were expecting its financial status would be improving with anticipated donations.
Ohio Valley University indicated that it was expecting a donation on Nov. 3 to help address its issues, which would include repairing technology and processing payroll. The meeting was later moved to Nov. 9 or 10 and a meeting was scheduled with a different potential donor on Nov. 8.
"The institution informed commission staff it would provide an update following each meeting," according to the HEPC documents. "To date, OVU has provided neither additional information nor confirmation of the donation(s)."
Also in its Nov. 5 correspondence to commission staff, OVU stated it was unable to provide a date by which the payroll situation would be resolved.
"From that date to this, OVU has provided no update with respect to this item," HEPC documents stated. "The commission has received credible information that OVU will have neither English nor math faculty for the Spring 2022 semester.
"Additionally, despite repeated inquiries by commission staff throughout November, OVU has not yet provided a timeframe by which it will be able to provide students with their transcripts."
Calls to various numbers listed for OVU and its administration could not be completed Monday. Emails were also sent to OVU administrators and no replies were made as of presstime.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com