Aug 11, 2025
Fairmont State President optimistic about start of new school year and 9% jump in enrollment
Fairmont State University begins the 2025-26 school year on an auspicious note — a 300 student increase in enrollment.
Fairmont State University begins the 2025-26 school year on an auspicious note — a 300 student increase in enrollment.
Fairmont State University faculty and staff got a head start on the 2025-26 school year Monday morning at the university’s annual Welcome Breakfast, during which FSU President Dr. Mike Davis discussed campus goals, challenges and successes. As the employees ate, Davis first spoke about accomplishing his goal to visit all 55 counties across the state to speak with locals about education and Fairmont State’s role throughout West Virginia, relaying his findings to faculty and staff.
Fairmont State University held a welcome back breakfast for faculty and staff on Monday which included several pieces of information about the upcoming school year. In his address, Fairmont State President Mike Davis noted that full-time employees are getting a 3% raise as well as classes beginning a new Outdoor Leadership major.
President Mike Davis delivers the Opening Address to Fairmont State University Faculty and Staff at the Opening Session for the 2025-2026Academic Year.
Heading into the 2025-26 school year, Fairmont State University is seeing an 8% to 9% overall enrollment increase. University President Dr. Mike Davis believes his team will deal with “uncertainty” over the next several months, but he feels confident in the direction the institution is heading.
This month’s presidential update take us to the Hupp Skylab, in the Ruth Ann Musick Library on Fairmont State’s campus. This computer and study lab is named for Mary Alice Hupp, who was worked for 17 years as a professor and coordinator of library services at our university. President Davis also provides some updates on summer projects and then chats with Dr. Lindsey Guinn, Fairmont State University’s new-ish Executive Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness.
Fairmont State University President Mike Davis is on the final leg of his 2025 “Tour of West Virginia,” which continues through August 1. The tour fulfills a commitment Davis made in 2023 to visit all 55 counties in the Mountain State—a promise he will have kept by the end of this trip.
Higher education in America faces severe challenges, many unprecedented. Since the pandemic, enrollment nation-wide has dropped by more than a million students, accelerating a decade-long trend. On top of that, we’re approaching a demographic cliff in Fall 2025, and new-student enrollment in American colleges could drop up to another 15%.
The weeklong tour will bring the number of counties FSU President Mike Davis has visited to 55 and will make good on a commitment he made when he was hired in 2023 to visit every county in the state.
When I was hired as Fairmont State University’s 27th President two years ago, I made a commitment: We would not only be a school for the North Central region — we would serve all of West Virginia, and I would visit every county in the state.
Over the past couple of years, Fairmont State University has been working diligently to develop a strategy to guide our actions for the next decade. If you attended my inauguration last year, read my previous op-eds, or watched my monthly videos, you have no doubt heard me speak about our Strategic Vision.
In this month’s video, President Davis provides some exciting updates on the Spirit Store, introduces us to our newest Falcon and Provost, Dr. Allen Bedford, and recognizes the impact Fairmont State had on our community during the Father’s Day Flood response.
Fairmont, West Virginia and surrounding areas suffered devastating flooding over the weekend. Fairmont State University President Mike Davis joins FOX Weather to talk about how the university is helping the community and those impacted.
In higher education, competition among institutions is often assumed to be a zero-sum game — one university’s gain is another’s loss. As presidents of two West Virginia public universities, we can tell you that nothing is further from the truth. In fact, we believe that when West Virginia’s higher education institutions work together, the entire state benefits.
Summer is here, and while most students have moved out of the residence halls, our campus is still abuzz with activity. This summer we’ll hold events for new and potential students like Orientation, Senior StartUP, and Finish What You Started. We also will hold several events this summer that bring community visitors to campus.