Glenville State College

Glenville State College, often referred to as the Lighthouse on the Hill, is West Virginia's only centrally located public college.

Founded in 1872 to provide instruction and practice for common school teachers in the science of education, Glenville State College has surpassed its original mission, and currently prepares students for careers in teaching, business, land resources, music, the liberal arts, the sciences, criminal justice, and human services.

With an enrollment of approximately 1,800 students, the college boasts an average class size of 15.The College's enrollment is made up of students from 24 states and 3 countries, and proudly includes many first generation and minority students.

Glenville State College prepares and inspires students to be thoughtful, productive, engaged, and responsible citizens who contribute to the well-being of their community, state, nation, and world.

Glenville State College will be recognized as one of the best small public liberal arts colleges in the country.

The mission of the Office of Institutional Research is to collect, store, analyze, and distribute assessment data in support of the College’s commitment to quality assurance and continuous improvement of the programs and services provided by the institution. The Office is also responsible for the preparation of reports required by West Virginia’s Higher Education Policy Commission, the federal government, and the institution’s accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission. The Office accordingly supports the College’s decision-making process.

Academic Affairs advances the College’s mission by creating and sustaining academic programs and services that enhance the teaching-learning process, foster a stimulating and supportive environment for students, faculty, and staff, and benefit the College’s broader communities. Academic Affairs offers curricular and co-curricular programs affording students a liberal arts education of superior quality in a personalized setting. These programs are designed to develop thoughtful, inquisitive, critical, and creative men and women that are able to reason clearly and critically, to read carefully and accurately, to speak and write precisely and persuasively, and to interpret with insight and imagination. Complementing this intellectual development is personal development that advances the values of intellectual honesty, the love of the truth, fairness to opposing points of view, tolerance of reasoned dissent, patience with complexity and ambiguity, and wellness. In these ways, the programs and services offered by Academic Affairs foster life-long learning, service to others, civic and moral responsibility, and fulfilling vocations.

Student Support Services (SSS) is a federally funded TRiO program designed to help students succeed in college. The SSS program, with offices located in Goodwin Hall, provides supplemental educational and cultural activities that assist students with earning their baccalaureate degree.

The GSC Student Life Counseling Center believes that academic achievement and personal growth are inseparable in the development of the student. We value each individual, respect and embrace diversity, and provide high quality, time-effective counseling services for the development of healthy behaviors necessary to reach academic and personal potential.

Confidentiality is of the utmost importance in developing a trusting and therapeutic environment. All information pertaining to a student's involvement in services provided by the Counseling Center is confidential other than information that may be necessarily shared to ensure the safety of the student or the community. Students may choose to sign an appropriate release allowing information to be shared with significant others or for coordination of treatment

Founded in 1872 to serve the higher education needs of Central West Virginia, Glenville State College has gained wide recognition for teaching excellence.

In an 1873 letter to the editor of the Weston Democrat a writer said, "No place on earth could have been found more suitable for the establishment of the State Normal School than Glenville. The place is retired, healthy and possesses every qualification requisite for a place of study and thought. The inhabitants are civil, moral, refined, religious, and generous to a fault."

In 1910, the college enrollment had exceeded the population of Glenville. As the college grew to a full four-year college in 1931, teacher preparation continued to be the central mission. Over the years, the campus became known as the "Lighthouse on the Hill" for both the quality of the teaching and the quality of GSC graduates.

Today, GSC still maintains our focus on teacher preparation, while offering additional degree programs in business, human services and land resources.

Throughout our history, GSC has maintained a long tradition of teaching excellence by professors who care about each student as an individual, who take the time to get to know each student’s goals and who are committed to helping students get an education that will prepare them for a successful career. GSC professors are very approachable and willing to give personal support to help students succeed.

Four simple, although powerful, words describe our collective work...Tradition, Innovation, Leadership and Community.

We honor our proud traditions by attending to teaching excellence and building academic programs of distinction.Our innovations are aimed at meeting the changing needs of our society. We prepare leaders for West Virginia, and we demonstrate our own leadership throughout all areas of our college community. We demonstrate the highest ideals of a thoughtful, caring community. These words serve as our calling and symbolize Glenville State College.