\Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop, who gave the budget update following President Gee’s recent announcement of a $35 million budget deficit, said it wasn’t the administration’s predetermined goal to make WVU a smaller university and that the decisions being made are based on projections of declining enrollment and revenue over the next decade. “We take no joy about planning to be a smaller institution with fewer employees and fewer programs, but it is something we need to do,” Alsop said during his budget update. “Our model shows … that WVU needs to adjust our margin by at least $75 million over the next five to seven years … if we see the potential enrollment decline of 5,000 over the next decade.”
