Fairmont State Master of Arts in Teaching Program Receives Waiver from WVDE
The Fairmont State University Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program has been granted a program waiver from the West Virginia Department of Education, allowing for students pursuing a MAT to significantly shorten their path to graduation while still maintaining the program quality necessary to produce effective teachers. Qualifying students must have a bachelor’s degree in the same concentration or content area in which they aim to teach upon completion of their degree.
The waiver from the WVDE allows for Fairmont State University to aid in the ongoing teacher shortage throughout the state.
“Fairmont State is a student first institution. We look at the needs of our students alongside the needs of our state,” said Fairmont State Assistant Professor of Education and MAT Program Coordinator, Dr. Keisha Kibler. “Our state is suffering from a critical teacher shortage, and we are looking to help West Virginia fulfill those vacancies with high quality teachers.”
The mission of the MAT Program is to prepare teacher candidates with the knowledge, skills and dispositions to meet West Virginia teaching licensure requirements and obtain teacher certification in comprehensive and secondary content areas.
“The MAT program produces high quality teachers who are content experts in their areas who know how to teach their content area, and therefore, they are prepared to provide optimal learning experiences for K-12 students,” Kibler added.
The online program is designed to ensure candidates have acquired the competencies and expertise to be effective educators. The MAT program provides professional education courses and clinical experiences, including student teaching.
“This waiver from the West Virginia Department of Education is a critical step towards mitigating the teacher shortage in the region,” said Fairmont State University President, Dr. Mirta M. Martin. “It’s also a sign of how deeply-respected our award-winning, highly-ranked MAT program is. The state Department of Education knows well our reputation for educating top-notch teachers who go out and immeasurably impact their communities.”
Courses are offered during the traditional school year and during the summer to accommodate program candidates. Students are eligible for admission year-round.
“We continuously seek to provide opportunities to support our K-12 partners,” said Fairmont State University College of Education, Health & Human Performance Dean, Amanda Metcalf. “This waiver will allow us to do just that by increasing the number of quality teachers in the public-school system.”
Interested candidates may submit an application at www.fairmontstate.edu/apply. Applicants will be required to submit an official college transcript with a minimum of a 2.75 undergraduate GPA. For more information, visit www.fairmontstate.edu/MAT.
Master of Arts in TeachingWVDE WaiverKeisha KiblerMirta MartinAmanda Metcalf
