Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
The entrance of Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.Va., is pictured in this undated photo. University officials have announced cuts to staff and programs, but said the school will continue to operate under "financial exigency." (CNS photo/Colleen Rowan, The Catholic Spirit) See WHEELING-JESUIT-FINANCES April 1, 2019.  

WHEELING, W.Va (CNS) -- Wheeling Jesuit University announced March 27 that it will remain open under the board of trustees' existing declaration of financial exigency.

"Based on our analysis and planning to date, the board believes that the university can marshal the resources necessary to sustain operations for academic year 2019-2020," Michael P. Mihalyo Jr., the university's president, said in a statement.

The plan, however, does require some difficult decisions, he said.

"Those decisions include a narrowed set of academic programs and co-curricular activities, and a reduction in faculty and staff," said Mihalyo, who became the university's 12th president in August 2018. "It is recognized that these changes in our program portfolio and campus community will be difficult."

Then next day the university announced more details on the next academic year. University officials met with students and employees on campus, where Mihalyo announced that Wheeling Jesuit University will offer the following academic programs starting with the fall 2019 semester: nursing, respiratory therapy, exercise science, education, business, criminal, justice, psychology, doctor of physical therapy, master of business administration, master of arts in education, and master of science in nursing.

These programs reflect the best intersection of Wheeling Jesuit's deep expertise, student demand and financial sustainability, university officials said.

They further said that students in majors no longer offered in this fall will receive information on how to develop a plan of study that will lead to their degree.

"We will work with every student to complete their education," Mihalyo said in a statement. "While we hope that completion will lead to a WJU degree, we will also assist those who wish to transfer to another institution."

Wheeling Jesuit will evaluate how to structure the university under a sustainable model, and will likely include consideration of new strategic partnerships that could allow the university to bring its mission forward in new ways, officials said.

Wheeling Jesuit University -- then Wheeling College -- was founded in partnership between the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and the Society of Jesus of the Maryland province in 1954. Wheeling Jesuit, the youngest of the nation's 28 Jesuit institutions, incorporated as Wheeling College Sept. 25, 1954.

Archbishop John J. Swint turned over the deed to all college properties and buildings to the Jesuits' Maryland province in 1957. For the 1987-1988 school year, the university became Wheeling Jesuit College and in July 1996 gained university status.

Wheeling Jesuit University is the only Catholic institution of higher learning in West Virginia, and has a special educational focus "to seek and find God in all, in chapel and classroom, in liturgy and laboratory."

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Brandon Palmer
5 years 7 months ago

They solve the problems of education and funding in different ways, such as cutting back students or teachers. But you should always remember that these problems cannot be solved, you need to give good knowledge, such as the company gives read more and you can read more and find out how. So this is the main cause of all problems in education.

Syed Shams
5 years 7 months ago

There is not a only way to solve this problems. This is a problem for all and education is getting costlier day by day. In higher education, 80 percent of the student take loan to pay off their tuition fees, this is not fair that a person becomes in debt before they start the real job. I am a tech guy, I am still paying my education load and I am 26 years old and I have very successful business of hosting server. Check my Revenueserver web hosting for more info. So as I have to pay for my education load even after 3 years, just think about the other. The system needs to change.

The latest from america

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her concession speech for the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Catholic voters were a crucial part of Donald J. Trump’s re-election as president. But did misogyny and a resistance to women in power cause Catholic voters to disregard the common good?
Kathleen BonnetteNovember 21, 2024
In 1984, then-associate editor Thomas J. Reese, S.J., explained in depth how bishops are selected—from the initial vetting process to final confirmation by the pope and the bishop himself.
Thomas J. ReeseNovember 21, 2024
In this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss a new book being released this week in which Pope Francis calls for the investigation of allegations of genocide in Gaza.
Inside the VaticanNovember 21, 2024
An exclusive conversation with Father James Martin, Gerard O’Connell, Colleen Dulle and Sebastian Gomes about the future of synodality in the U.S. church
America StaffNovember 20, 2024