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CHARLESTON -- West Virginia's regulator of public colleges and universities is considering possible legislation that would help protect transcripts in the wake of the now-defunct Ohio Valley University's issues providing transcripts.
Members of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission met Tuesday morning in Charleston for its regular meeting.
Commission Chairman Andrew "Drew" Payne opened Tuesday's meeting with a report and statement about the continuing drama at OVU since it closed its doors and declared bankruptcy in 2021. Students and alumni of OVU are still awaiting access to their transcripts since the school closed.
"As a result of all of this ... we have looked at exploring ways that this doesn't happen again," Payne said. "It might be through some type of legislation where transcripts are secured not just at the institution, maybe someplace else. We're exploring opportunities in that and will work on that going forward."
Server issues have been cited among the causes as to why transcripts have not been sent. Accusations of power outages, someone changing the password to the server and deletion of transcript data have flown over the last several months, though attorneys representing the trust winding down operations at OVU told The Parkersburg News and Sentinel that the transcripts remain intact.
Payne confirmed OVU's bankruptcy trust is making transcripts for students and alumni available as soon as possible.
"It seems the Ohio Valley wind-up trust is working towards a more favorable outcome for students and alumni to be able to access their transcripts," Payne said. "The commission remains hopeful and encouraging of that outcome. In fact, we reached out to the bankruptcy trustee back in April and started working with him to get his support and the court to support a solution that would benefit the students and alumni."
Commission staff began working with OVU last year when reports of issues with providing transcripts first started. HEPC and the Higher Learning Commission, a regional independent organization that provides accreditation to colleges and universities, had placed OVU on academic probation in 2020 due to financial concerns.
"I'd like to start by thanking the commission's staff and everybody who has worked so hard on hearing the records and helping the students from Ohio Valley University," Payne said. "Since the institution closed late last year, staff have spent countless hours talking to students and their families and helping to get them in the right place and helping them with their transfer questions and providing letters and so much more."
OVU, a Church of Christ-affiliated private university, has carried a high debt load for years, but the university started having issues paying vendors and making payroll going into the end of 2021. The college's Board of Directors decided to close the college and declare bankruptcy in December 2021. The HEPC pulled OVU's degree-granting authority soon afterward.
The HEPC primarily governs and regulates the state's 10 public four-year colleges and universities. While its authority over private colleges and universities is limited, it does have the "statutory responsibility for authorizing private and out-of-state institutions to operate in West Virginia." The HEPC also approves new bachelor's and master's degree programs.
"There's been some confusion in the media about the commission's role in all of this," Payne said. "I just want to be really clear about this. Ohio Valley University was a private institution and our authority over them was limited. After staff attempted to help and once serious issues became apparent, this commission took the first and only official action it could to remove its degree-granting authority.
"While this is a problem that we did not create, that hasn't stopped our staff from helping students and I want to be sure to thank them," Payne said.