Division unifies mission, strengthens engagement

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University is the flagship university for the state and its more than 1.7 million residents. With a focus on the University’s land-grant roots, the newly created Division for Land-Grant Engagement will enhance and strengthen the mission to improve lives and livelihoods of those it serves. 

The Division resulted from the unification of three key areas – WVU Extension, the Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Center for Community Engagement. The unification, which was announced last year, honors the rich history and advances its role as the flagship R1 university in the state.

Jorge Atiles, associate vice president and dean of the WVU Division for Land-Grant Engagement said the unification will spark more collaboration and innovative approaches to reach people and industry partners in West Virginia and beyond.

“WVU’s land-grant mission truly started with the agricultural college (now Davis) and Extension,” he said. “Now, more than 100 years later, we are building a strong foundation for the modern land-grant university to serve the ever-changing needs of citizens and industries in the state and around the world for centuries to come.”

The Division highlights a shared mission to provide expertise in areas such as agriculture, natural resources, youth development, health and safety, community development and engagement. Additionally, support units have been combined to provide expertise in the areas of fundraising, alumni relations, student and employee success, business operations, communications, and technology, among others.

After a careful review of the recent survey of administrators’ performance completed by faculty and staff, Atiles also announced the initial Division executive leadership team who will help guide the Division and its units.

Kimberly Barnes will continue to serve as associate dean for Academics of the Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She has served as the associate dean of Academic Affairs for the Davis College since 2021. A student-centered leader, Barnes serves on several University committees related to academic policies, retention, advising and academic calendar. She was named to the 2019-2020 class of Academic Leadership Fellows by the Office of the Provost. During her tenure, she explored how to better develop and manage interdisciplinary programs. In 2015, she was selected to lead the intercollegiate biochemistry program, the first program of its kind at WVU and shared between the Davis College and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. 

Jason Hubbart has been reappointed as interim associate dean for research for the Division and associate director of the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. In these roles, Hubbart is the primary research point of contact for the Division's faculty, staff, students, research partners, and administrators. He oversees formula-funded projects, facilitates faculty engagement in National Information Management & Support System (Hatch Multistate) projects, and submits annual experiment station productivity reports for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Hubbart manages annual Davis College research expenditures that exceed $25 million. He also directs WVU farms, forests, and controlled environments; leads graduate student programming and international programs; assesses faculty productivity for promotion and tenure; and supervises Division facilities.

Jennifer Ours Williams will serve as associate dean and associate director of WVU Extension. Williams, who has more than 30 years of service to the University, started her career as an Extension agent in Upshur County where she led programming in various areas, including youth programming, agriculture/natural resources, and economic development. She later served as program unit director for Extension’s agriculture and natural resources unit before being named associate dean for programs and partnerships for the organization. The Hardy County native’s passion for improving lives and livelihoods of West Virginians is evident throughout her work, and she was recently recognized for those efforts with induction into the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame.

Kristi Wood-Turner will continue to serve as assistant dean for Community Engagement and director of the WVU Center for Community Engagement. In her roles, she focuses on developing partnerships that enhance discovery through community-engaged teaching, scholarship, and action. The CCE creates opportunities for students and faculty at all WVU campuses to collaborate with communities on advancing the public good. With 22 years of experience, Kristi continues to advance community engagement practices, build strong community connections, promote volunteerism, and advance civic action at West Virginia University.

"In addition to the collaboration, it’s also important to note that each of these three units also have defined funding and goals. We will continue to be good stewards of these funds to ensure we are providing the best outreach, education and engaged scholarship opportunities to those we serve, including FFA, 4-H, WVU Jackson’s Mill and other programs and stakeholders.” Atiles said.

During the past six months, work groups offered guidance and feedback in addressing the needs of the Division. Their work continues as leadership looks to address various aspects of the reorganization, such as academic and outreach programming, promotion and tenure guidelines and practices, fundraising, technology, communications, and student support services.

Work is ongoing to determine a location for the Division and its support units, while also identifying opportunities to bring together faculty and staff with shared expertise to create more functional cross collaboration to support students, alumni, faculty and others.

Learn more about the Division at landgrant.wvu.edu.

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