University leaders vow to work together to survive funding shortfalls - Samuel Speciale, Charleston Daily Mail

Marshall University President Stephen Kopp and West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee met Tuesday in Huntington to discuss how continued budget cuts to higher education will affect the future of the two universities. Kopp and Gee toured Marshall’s campus and met privately before a joint press conference where they vowed to collaborate to help each school and the state as a whole. While they took turns speaking, they shared a common message: WVU and Marshall are better off working together. “One of the first conversations Gordon and I had, we talked about opportunities for collaboration,” Kopp said. “He and I both realize if our universities are going to work together, it has to be at the highest level.” In the past, communication between schools was done by other administrative staff, but Kopp said he and Gee made a promise to work together and regularly talk, rather than delegate those responsibilities to someone else. http://www.charlestondailymail.com/article/20140603/DM01/140609735/1276