Published: March 11, 2009 02:23 am      

WVU can now move forward with long-term plans and goals

West Virginia University finally has a new president in place

On July 1, James Clements will take over as the 23rd president of the state’s flagship university, and school officials will be pleased when that occurs.

This all would not have happened, of course, had it not been for the Heather Bresch episode — a rather unfortunate saga in WVU’s history that not only caused the downfall of President Mike Garrison, but also some of his top aides as well.

In naming James Clements as its new president, WVU is optimistic of putting all this in the past and finally moving forward. The school has been fortunate to have Dr. C. Peter Magrath serving as an interim president since last fall. From all indications, he has done an excellent job.

That’s what’s being counted on from Clements as well. He was the second of two candidates to meet the public and the WVU staff in Morgantown — following Dr. Gregory Williams, president of the City College of New York, onto the WVU scene. Williams was extremely impressive in his appearance in Morgantown, and some observers were ready to name him as WVU’s new leader before James Clements ever appeared.

There are those who believe the second man always has an advantage over the first, and whether that is true or not, in this case it was. Clements currently serves as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Towson University in Maryland, but will wind up his duties there in time to move here with his family of six by July 1.

Clements is 44, and this will be his first tour of duty at running a university.

“Thank you for giving me this unbelievable, incredible opportunity to serve this great, great university,” Clements said when introduced at the Erickson Alumni Center. He holds bachelor of science, master of science and a Ph.D. in operations analysis from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a master of science degree in computer science from Johns Hopkins.

There apparently had been some concern that the school might lose one or both of the candidates, since the announcement date for the new president was moved up by almost a month. And Clements’ starting salary will get the attention of many West Virginians. He is being paid $450,000 — almost $200,000 more than David Hardesty received and $175,000 more than Garrison was paid. But WVU apparently has come into the 21th century in its presidential salary scale and believed it could get higher quality candidates for the position with a more substantial salary.

Clements’ resume was an impressive one. The fact that he had helped Towson State secure more than $50 million in outside funding had to stand out.

“He has a vision that will take us forward,” said Ken Gray, vice president of student affairs and a member of the search committee, after Clements was announced. “He’ll involve everyone in the process. I’m glad he’s here.”

Faculty member Steve Kite summed up his feelings. “The interim has been great, but with a permanent (in place), we can move forward with long terms plans and goals.”

The wait has been a long one. It appears that WVU can now at last do just that.