MONTGOMERY — Four members of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech) Revitalization Team heard comments, concerns and feedback from area residents and members of the WVU Tech community Tuesday at a campus forum.

The all-male, six-member Revitalization Team will produce a report for the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission “aimed at assisting the institution to reach its full potential as a center of excellence and a positive source for economic development and cultural enrichment in the state,” according to a press release by the commission. Its members have expertise in a variety of fields, including governance, facilities, finances, and academics.

They will spend several days on campus this week gathering information and participating in forums with faculty, students, alumni, and industry representatives. The following week they will begin preparing their report and recommendations, scheduled for release in early September.

The WVU Tech Revitalization Project was created by the state legislature during its 2011 session.

All the community members who spoke Tuesday were intent on seeing WVU Tech survive and thrive.

“We want to keep the bond between Tech and Montgomery,” said Les Thomas, a member of Montgomery City Council. “It is vital to the residents, businesses and economy here. We hope the committee will make a good decision that’s in the best interest of the community and the college.”

Another point everyone could agree on is the vital importance of increased enrollment at the school. Enrollment in the fall of 2010 fell slightly compared to 2009, from 1,244 to 1,209 students, but longer-term enrollment trends show more dramatic declines.

Deno Curris, chair of the Revitalization Team, commented that enrollment is more important now than ever.

“These days, because of increasing tuition, it becomes a key factor in your revenue,” he said. “A lot of issues can be addressed if enrollment is up. In light of declining appropriations, it is vital for the ongoing sustenance of every university.”

A 2010-2015 Strategic Plan Year One Progress Report published July 18 reports that a focus on recruitment and retention yielded a 61 percent increase in freshman applications and a 31 percent increase in freshman admissions for the 2010-2011 school year. The number of applicants from groups targeted to increase gender, ethnic and geographic diversity has doubled.

At the same time, the school’s retention rate for the Fall 2009-Fall 2010 cohort was 49 percent, compared to an average rate of 70 percent at institutions Tech aspires to match.

Concerns tied to a tension that traces back to West Virginia Tech’s merger with West Virginia University in 2007 were also expressed at the forum. Some present would still rather see Tech as independent, and seemed to resent the school’s re-branding.

“We’re Golden Bears, not Mountaineers,” said area resident William Bolts Willis. “Go up to the bookstore and try to buy something from Tech and it’s not there, or very little. It shouldn’t be that way ... If the state would pour any of the money here that they pour into WVU, it would be tremendous.”

Dorothy Phillips of Take Back Tech, a community group that has lobbied at the statehouse and sued in 2007 to halt the merger with WVU, expressed frustration with, among other things, a perceived lack of communication between community members and WVU administration in Morgantown.

Gordon Billheimer, president of the WVU Tech Foundation, sees the school’s decreasing enrollment as a function of depopulation and a 50-year decline in the area’s economy.

“Welcome to Lake Woebegone,” he began his comments to the committee. He continued, “I want to point out to the committee how serious our situation is, over something we have no real control over.”

Fayette County Commission President Matt Wender read the draft of a letter the commission will send to Brian Noland. chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

The letter expressed misgivings about the decision to merge West Virginia Tech into WVU and read, in part: “The Fayette County Commission urges you to return a report that emphasizes the importance of WVU Tech in the local economy and, much more importantly, the role it must play in preparing a work force for tomorrow’s economy. Simply put, southern West Virginia has earned the opportunities that WVU Tech can provide.”

But for retired economics professor Mostafa Shaaban, the wisdom of West Virginia Tech’s merger with WVU is a moot point.

“Some here want to talk about the past. I am talking about right now,” he said. He, along with others, expressed concerns that WVU Tech is too heavy on administrative staff and is destroying programs not related to engineering.

WVU Tech Provost Scott Hurst remains positive, saying in a statement, “I’m pleased with the progress of the Revitalization Team visit, and am confident that the continued support of all of our constituents, as well as WVU, will ensure a bright future for this great institution ... We look forward to this revitalization process to provide guidance with these efforts.”

Gayle Harlan, chair of Take Back Tech, shared his enthusiasm.

 “We were really proud of the people speaking out. We’re thrilled with this assessment team. We feel we’ll hopefully get a good response,” she said.

— E-mail: cmoore@register-herald.com