Center for Education in Appalachia Receives Benedum Grant

The Fairmont State Foundation, Inc. announces that the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation recently awarded a grant in the amount of $210,000 to Fairmont State University’s Center for Education in Appalachia.

The grant is payable over two years to the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc., the fundraising and asset management arm of the university. The grant will facilitate the overall mission of the Center for Education in Appalachia by establishing a network of leaders who will be better able to participate at the state and local level in the creation and implementation of sound education policy for West Virginia.

“While receiving this grant to fund the Center for Education in Appalachia is a watershed event for Fairmont State University, the far-reaching effects of this program will positively serve education in this region for years to come,” stated Jean Ahwesh, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Fairmont State University and Executive Director of the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc.

The Education Policy Fellows Program, the first initiative funded by the grant, is designed to prepare education leaders to become informed and active participants in the policy-making process. Three specific goals of this one-year training program are to develop leaders, increase their knowledge of how education policy is made and build a leadership network.

The grant also provides for the creation of statewide local study groups, intended to bridge local and state issues in relation to the overall development of education policy. Graduates of the Education Policy Fellows Program will be key facilitators of these study groups, additionally comprised of state and local stakeholders and local community members. Study groups will convene as issues necessitating local perspective arise.

“Once again the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation shows its commitment to the communities and children of West Virginia,” said Center Director Dr. Craig McClellan. “We are very appreciative for their confidence in our work at the Center and at Fairmont State University.”

The Center for Education in Appalachia was established in February 2007 and is housed in the School of Education at Fairmont State University. Its purpose is to support and sustain high quality public education in West Virginia by creating and maintaining networks of key stakeholders and patrons committed to public education. The Center works to combine educational and economic opportunity in ways that meet the unique needs of West Virginia by using local input to guide the development of education policy.

The mission of the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc. is to support, through ethical stewardship, the mission of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College. We identify, establish and cultivate meaningful relationships with Fairmont State alumni and potential and existing funding constituencies to meet contributor needs while securing funds and supporters for priority objectives identified by the Board of Governors.

For more information on the programs of the Center for Education in Appalachia, contact the Center’s director, Dr. Craig McClellan, at (304) 367-4824. For information on providing financial support to this program, contact Jean Ahwesh, executive director, Fairmont State Foundation, Inc.