The anniversary of Marshall University obtaining its university status was on Sunday, March 2, marking 64 years since the milestone in the history of Marshall.

Marshall, previously known as Marshall College, was elevated to university status by an act of the West Virginia Legislature on March 2, 1961.

Marshall becoming a university opened many doors and created new opportunities and growth, Mary Beth Reynolds, the associate provost for assessment and quality initiatives at Marshall, said.

“When you gain university status, that means you are looking to expand your offerings, and not just in breadth, but also in depth,” Reynolds said. “You want to go beyond offering bachelor’s degrees and go up to offering master’s degrees, specialist degrees, doctoral degrees, etcetera.” 

Reynolds said becoming a university is what allowed Marshall to begin offering graduate programs, which eventually led to Marshall offering programs at every level of education.

“So in 1961, basically, becoming a university meant that we could start establishing graduate programs,” Reynolds said. “At the present time, we’re now approved to offer degrees at every single level. That’s associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist’s, and doctoral degrees, both professional and research-based.”

When asked what she believes Marshall’s greatest accomplishment since becoming a university has been, she said she believes it’s gaining R2 research status. R2 research status is a classification granted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching that signifies Marshall has a high amount of research activity, the second highest available classification.

“I think the most significant achievement that Marshall University has gained is our R2 status,” Reynolds said. “I say that because, for a long time, Marshall was considered a comprehensive master’s university by the Carnegie Foundation, even though we offered some doctoral degrees.”

Reynolds said attaining R2 status elevated Marshall University to be among its peers nationally, as the comprehensive master’s university classification was only a regional one.

“Those classifications are regional. When we gained R2 status, that is a national ranking,” Reynolds said. “In other words, our peers within that group are now all over the country.”

Because the classifications are based on research output and the number of research-based doctoral degrees offered, attaining the milestone was significant for Marshall, Reynolds said.

“When you gain that, what they’re looking for is your research output and the number of research-based doctoral degrees that you award,” Reynolds said. “Gaining that was huge for Marshall.”

Reynolds said the achievement would not have been possible had Marshall not been granted university status in 1961.

“It was something that happened over time, but it could not have happened had we not been given university status,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds also said attaining university status has allowed Marshall to expand its facilities and greatly increase enrollment over the years.

“Since I’ve been in Huntington, which is about 40 years now, there has been incredible building for the university,” Reynolds said. “Becoming a university also gave us more visibility throughout the state. We’re one of the few institutions in the state right now that has seen enrollment increasing.”

Reynolds said she believes since becoming a university, Marshall has greatly benefited the local community through the Marshall Health Network, which would not have been possible without its university status.

“Marshall has its footprint on health care throughout the entire region, and especially in southern West Virginia,” Reynolds said. “Rural health is one of the medical school’s primary missions, and they do turn out a lot of physicians who specialize in rural health.”

Reynolds said the School of Medicine could not have been opened without Marshall being granted university status. As the School of Medicine is a core component of the Marshall Health Network, university status is what has allowed the Marshall Health Network to expand so much.

“Without university status, the School of Medicine simply would not have been possible,” Reynolds said. “That’s one of the most significant things university status has given us.”

Ashton Pack can be contacted at [email protected].