Four Shepherd University programs will benefit from $2,708,000 in congressionally directed spending that the university is receiving from the $1.7 billion omnibus bill signed by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2022.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who serve on the Appropriations Committee, requested the money to support various projects across campus.

“We are profoundly grateful to Senators Capito and Manchin for their support of these critical projects at Shepherd University,” said Shepherd President Mary J.C. Hendrix.

“This support will strengthen Shepherd’s ability to offer students a world-class education and help promote area economic development.”

Hendrix said that both Senators Capito and Manchin supported the following projects.

$1.4 million for Shepherd’s Agricultural Innovation Center to create a small business incubator that will develop new agricultural production systems at Tabler Farm to demonstrate and train novice farmers in innovative small-scale agriculture. The money will enable the farm to build the infrastructure to establish the business incubator.

  • $657,000 for a program that will offer a professional development series for high school teachers titled “The Write Way Forward: West Virginia Students Succeed.” The series will focus on utilizing writing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • $609,000 to Shepherd’s Department of Chemistry to revitalize the labs and classrooms to expand current scientific and teaching methods.
  • $20,000 to the School of Education, which will use the money to develop a special education curriculum and the courses necessary to offer a special education endorsement for elementary and secondary education majors.

Shepherd University is a public university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the university enrolled 3,159 students in the fall of 2020.