West Virginia State University will receive nearly $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support research, teaching and extension services dealing with food security and promoting healthy families.
Funding comes from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a USDA agency that promotes environmentally sustainable and economically viable research and technological innovation. The nearly $1.8 million grant is the maximum amount the competitive program awards and the most the university has received.
The program is exclusive to 1890 land-grant universities like West Virginia State, which are historically black schools established by the Second Morrill Act of 1890. It also focuses on advancing cultural diversity by attracting and educating students from underrepresented groups.
While land grant universities offer the full spectrum of classes, as set forth in the Morrill Act, they focus on teaching agriculture, science, military science and engineering. They also are heavily involved in communities.
West Virginia State President Brian Hemphill said the university, through research, public service and economic development, works to fulfill its mission of supporting communities and West Virginians.
"And with these funds we can further our commitment, improve the quality of life in the region and state and make a difference with research and service at the epicenter of our efforts," Hemphill said in a statement announcing the funding.
Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin also spoke out on the funding announcement. In a Wednesday statement, both said they were pleased the grant was given to West Virginia State, which was one of 19 universities eligible to compete in the program.
In the statement, Capito noted the university's research and extension programs, which focus on 4-H youth development, agriculture and natural resources, community and economic development and family and consumer sciences.
"West Virginia State University has made significant contributions in research, innovation and development for agriculture and extension programs," she said. "This funding will play a vital role to advance agricultural research and education that will encourage new break-through discoveries."
Manchin also noted university programs.
"West Virginia State University continues to lead West Virginia and our nation by providing opportunities through innovative STEM research and world-class academics," he said. "WVSU plays an important role in our state, and I am glad that the school will receive this important funding to enhance research, teaching and extension activities that will allow our students to thrive and help them succeed."
The nearly $1.8 million in funding is broken into three categories: teaching, research and extension services.
For teaching programs, the university will receive nearly $300,000 to help high school science teachers recreate lab experiences and establish a food safety workshop on campus.
It also will receive nearly $600,000 for Healthy Grandfamilies Project workshops. In its grant proposal, the university said West Virginia has the fourth highest rate of grandfamilies, or children living with their grandparents. These families are typically low-income, have little access to health care, have high rates of obesity and lack strong social support systems.
For research, the university will receive nearly $300,000 so students can experiment with horticulture, genetics, genomics, metabolomics and entomology.
For extension services, the university will receive nearly $600,000 to create an agriculture training facility and training program in southern West Virginia. The university says the program can help grow the agriculture industry in the southern part of the state where the decline of coalfields has caused employment to plummet.
Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.