WVU Tech announces Presidential Leadership Award winners and shares administrative updates during Thursday campus meeting

At a campus meeting on Thursday, April 14, 2022, Campus President Carolyn Long addressed the West Virginia University Institute of Technology community.

Long introduced Dr. Cynthia Hall, associate professor of psychology and chair of the academic awards committee, who announced the nominees and winners for the Presidential Leadership Award.

Presidential Leadership awardees pose for a photo with Dr. Cynthia Hall and Campus President Carolyn Long.

Nominees must submit an essay, letters of recommendation, grades, and an explanation of their involvement on campus to be considered for the award. This is the top honor for WVU Tech graduates and awardees are announced annually.

Nominees were each selected from the College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering and Sciences, and the West Virginia University School of Nursing -Beckley campus.

The nominees in the College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences are Andreas Jönsson, a psychology major with a minor in sociology from Solna, Sweden, Kyle Saunders, a business management and public service administration major from Beckley, West Virginia, and Tess Terry, a psychology major from Mount Hope, West Virginia. The award was presented to Andreas Jönsson.

Nominees from the Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering and Sciences are Antonio Fernández Castaño, a mechanical engineering major from Seville, Spain, and Shawneha Fennimore, a civil engineering major from South Charleston, West Virginia. Antonio Fernández Castaño was named the 2022 presidential awardee.

Nominees for the West Virginia University School of Nursing - Beckley campus are Emily Harrah from Beckley, West Virginia, Felicia Seabolt from Summersville, West Virginia, and Petra Vasale from Charleston, West Virginia. The 2022 award recipient is Felicia Seabolt.

The winners are scheduled to speak at WVU Tech’s commencement ceremony on May 7, 2022.

After the award presentation, President Long shared additional campus updates including a restructuring of academic affairs administration and the announcement of Dr. Scott Fleming as Dean of the College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences. Fleming has been serving as interim since the fall of 2021 and effective July 1, 2022 will hold the official dean role.

Campus President Long named Dr. Scott Fleming permanent Dean of the College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences as of July 1, 2022. 

To close out today’s campus meeting, President Long announced that she will be returning to retirement in December 2022. A national search will be conducted for the next campus president and a search committee will be formed in the coming weeks.

“WVU Tech is growing and thriving, and I want it to continue to do so,” Long said. “This was a difficult decision as I love WVU Tech. I’ve thought about my retirement plans for quite some time, and I feel that now is the right time for me and for Tech that I return to retirement.”

Campus President Long announces her retirement, effective December 2022. 

The full announcement regarding Long’s retirement is available on WVU Today.