Glenville State College was one of over thirty West Virginia Colleges and Universities represented at Higher Education Day at the State Capitol on Friday, March 20th. The annual event was hosted by Dr. Brian Noland, Chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC), and Jim Skidmore, Chancellor of the West Virginia Council of Community and Technical College Education. Higher Education Day is designed to salute West Virginia’s higher education institutions and to inform students, policymakers, and the public about postsecondary

educational opportunities in West Virginia.

Representatives from the participating colleges and universities set up displays in the upper rotunda of the West Virginia State Capitol Building promoting their institutions. Faculty, staff, and students from each institution manned their booth from 9:00 a.m. to noon handing out information, talking with the public, and visiting with members of the West Virginia Legislature.

Glenville State College showed a video production promoting the GSC Land Resources Department. The video was featured on the National Education Report that aired nationally on TV. GSC Hidden Promise Scholars Marlon Henry from Elkins, West Virginia, and Andrew Schreckengost, from Elizabeth, West Virginia were on hand to help highlight the GSC Land Resources Department. Both are sophomores majoring in Natural Resource Management. Others GSC representatives included President Dr. Peter Barr and his wife Betsy, Teresa Sterns, Executive Assistant to the President and Hidden Promise Scholar Program Director, Keith Barr, GSC Community Engagement Coordinator and Hidden Promise Scholar Program Coordinator, Debbie Nagy, GSC Director of Alumni Affairs and Special Assistant to the

President.

“The West Virginia legislature's Higher Education Day is an important occasion to show the vitality of colleges and universities across the state. Glenville State faculty and students are extraordinary advocates for the College as they engaged state legislators,” said Glenville State College President Peter Barr.

At 10 a.m. in the Governor’s Reception Room, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III presented a proclamation declaring March 20, 2009 as Higher Education Day. Similar proclamations were also made in the House and Senate Chambers.

After lunch, Dr. Brian Nolan hosted the Chancellors Lecture Series in the State Theatre of the Cultural Center at the State Capitol Complex. A panel of experts discussed the future of higher education in West Virginia. Panelists included Dr. Thomas Lazell, former president of the Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education; Richard Novak, senior vice president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges’ Ingram center for Public Trusteeship and Governance; and Dr. Clifford Trump, former Chancellor of the State College System of West Virginia.