Center Focuses on Education in Appalachia

The School of Education at Fairmont State University will be the home for the Center for Education in Appalachia, a new initiative that will support the university's role as a resource to public schools, education policy makers and education stakeholders in West Virginia.

"Fairmont State has a long history as a leader in the field of education. I am confident that the Center's work will benefit the residents of our state and beyond," said FSU President Dan Bradley. "The work of the Center also ties into one of the goals of our Strategic Plan, which is to cultivate and strengthen the education, economic and cultural well-being of our region."

The work of the Center will be based on three assumptions: that access to high quality education is the right of every West Virginian; that education should lead to economic opportunity in local communities and the state; and that education should prepare children to participate in democratic and civic life as responsible citizens.

The Center for Education in Appalachia:
* Will support public education that leads to economic opportunity in West Virginia and across Appalachia;
* Will build networks and partnerships between people and organizations committed to education in West Virginia and the Appalachian region;
* Will serve as an information resource to state educational policy making efforts in West Virginia with a special focus on its unique rural, Appalachian context;
* Will increase awareness of working models of policy development and local implementation so that state policy initiatives will have greater likelihood of successful and intended impact.

"Education, economy and democratic responsibility are inseparable," said Dr. Van Dempsey, Dean of the School of Education. "You cannot have any of them at any level of quality if you do not pursue all of them as individuals, communities and West Virginia as a whole. We, as citizens have a responsibility to provide access to all three. I believe that the Center will be an additional resource to the state to help make that happen."

Dr. Craig McClellan, a native of Logan County, has been named as Director of the Center. He has degrees from Marshall University, Radford University and did extensive work at The George Washington University. He also has teaching and administrative experience in the public schools of Roanoke, Va. When he began his doctoral work at West Virginia University, he returned to Logan to do his dissertation research on the West Virginia PROMISE Scholarship program.

Dempsey and McClellan believe that West Virginia faces challenges in ensuring that its citizens have the economic opportunity to allow them to stay "home" in West Virginia. They also both firmly believe that clear opportunities can emerge from how the state faces these challenges.

Through the efforts of the Center, McClellan hopes that fewer West Virginians will have to choose to leave the state to find the education and the economic opportunities they desire -- that they will not have to "take the Turnpike south" to places like Roanoke and Charlotte.

"I believe that many West Virginians are forced to leave the state because of a lack of opportunities and choices, not because they want to," McClellan said. "I hope that the Center can help create opportunities and options so that fewer citizens have to make that difficult decision to leave the state. These opportunities may eventually even help displaced West Virginians find their way back home."

Initially, the Center will focus its networking efforts on providing information to educational leaders on such issues as policy efforts to support excellence in teaching; effective ways to serve economically challenged children and families; and school safety. The Center is also establishing a program to help state educators develop educational policy leadership abilities and connect with a larger, national network facilitated by the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C.

For more information about the Center for the Study of Education in Appalachia or to suggest partnership opportunities, call Dr. Craig McClellan at (304) 367-4824 or e-mail him at cmcclellan@fairmontstate.edu.