West Virginia University Restores In-Person Onboarding
The institution is reintroducing face-to-face training to better integrate new employees into the workplace.
Updated on Oct. 15, 2026 in Job Fairs
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West Virginia University has restored in-person onboarding for new staff through its New Mountaineer Orientation program. The initiative follows the 2024 hiring of senior training and development specialist Amy Metz, who helped lead the effort to revitalize employee engagement.
Why it matters
The shift reflects a broader institutional move to restore the in-person workplace culture disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. By formalizing orientation, the university aims to better integrate new hires into the campus ecosystem.
The university's current onboarding strategy represents a return to in-person practices suspended since 2020. This restructuring includes both the in-person New Mountaineer Orientation and the virtual New Employee Journey.
The players
Amy Metz
A senior training and development specialist at West Virginia University who previously worked as an elementary reading specialist.
West Virginia University
A large public land-grant research institution that serves as a major employer in the state.
The details
The university reinstated in-person orientation sessions after consulting with leadership across campus to address onboarding gaps. Training facilitators from various departments now rotate through these sessions to provide a standardized experience. Alongside this, the university introduced the New Employee Journey, a virtual training program available to all staff to supplement the in-person components.
Timeline
1993: Amy Metz began her studies at West Virginia University.
2020: The university suspended in-person orientation due to the pandemic.
2024: Amy Metz joined the university Learning and Organizational Development team.
Market Landscape
The university's strategy marks a direct departure from the remote-only protocols adopted during the 2020 pandemic response. This move follows a wider trend of large institutions reinvesting in physical onboarding to improve staff integration.
Organizations should evaluate whether virtual-only onboarding continues to meet their integration goals or if in-person modules are necessary to bolster retention. Leaders should review the mix of digital and face-to-face training assets to ensure new hires feel connected to the workplace culture.
The takeaway
Reintegrating face-to-face engagement into standard operating procedures can help mitigate the cultural drift that occurred during remote-only operations. Managers should monitor new hire feedback scores to determine if these restored in-person touchpoints actually improve long-term employee engagement.
Further reading
For more information on staffing trends and recruitment, see Job Fairs.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Dominion Post.
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