West Virginia University Research Corporation

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule oin 1985, the West Virginia university research corporation (research corporation) was created in accordance with West Virginia state law and with the expressed purpose to foster and support research at West Virginia university (university). The research corporation is organized exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes, including for such purposes: (1) to foster and support research at West Virginia university; and(2) to provide evaluation, development, patenting, management, and marketing services for inventions by the faculty, staff, and students of West Virginia university.research is an integral part of the university's mission and the research corporation facilitates this mission through its role as a fiscal agent for sponsored projects. The research corporation also uses its unique status to maximize the effectiveness of technology transfer in addition to its economic and business development functions. One important indication of this success is the university's classification as an r1, doctoral university - highest research activity, by the carnegie foundation. Currently, there are 187 institutions recognized as an r1 institution and 135 of them are public. Wvu has maintained a carnegie r1 status since 2016. Sponsored award expenditures came in at $264 million for fiscal year 2025, with $132 million coming from federal agencies (in fiscal year 2024 the numbers were $275 million and $128 million). As a result of this growth, the effective facilities and administrative costs ("f&a") recovered increased from 25.6 to 26.5. The effective f&a recovery rate increased from 18.7% to 19.8%.comparing fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2024 for our primary federal research sponsors: doe funded expenditures decreased from $19.8 million to $16.2 millionhhs funded expenditures increased from $50.4 million to $54.6 millionusda funded expenditures increased from $7.7 million to $8 millionnasa funded expenditures decreased from $7.7 million to $6.5 millionnsf funded expenditures decreased from $14.1 million to $14 millioninvestments in improving the competitiveness of the faculty through the implementation of programs by the research office is continuing to yield a noticeable return in terms of the dollar value of new awards. The most effective of these investments remains the program to stimulate competitive research, providing support to ensure that resubmitted proposals have a significantly enhanced probability of success; and an internal national institutes health (nih) style study section at our health sciences center (hsc), providing scientific review of grant applications prior to external submission to increase competitiveness. The university's focus on areas such as neuroscience, cancer, energy and sustainability, and aerospace is yielding many of the increases noted above. Additionally, we have received $50 million from the state of West Virginia to invest in and grow our cancer institute's research capabilities. Finally, it should also be noted that the our f&a recovery has grown by over $16 million since 2020.while the university and the research corporation finds itself in a very dynamic funding environment, both are deploying innovative strategies to expand the quantity and quality of funding for the research enterprise from all sources and looks forward to continued success in the future.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 91%; rating input score 91
• Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Pass
  • Conducts field audits: Limited
  • May suspend future funding: Limited
  • Requires financial reports: Pass
  • Conducts site visits: Limited
  • Requires grant agreements: Limited
  • May require repayment: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 99; 41st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings