West Virginia University doctoral candidates will have a new opportunity to gain teaching experience at the college level through a new partnership with West Virginia Wesleyan College starting in January 2021.
A new Memorandum of Understanding between WVU and West Virginia Wesleyan College establishes a program, known as the Minority Doctoral Fellows Program, through which WVU’s qualified doctoral candidates will be able to teach as part-time adjunct instructors at Wesleyan in Buckhannon. The MOU was signed by both WVU President Gordon Gee and WVWC President Joel Thierstein.
The new Minority Doctoral Fellows Program is meant to enhance diversity among the teaching faculty at WVWC and is geared toward doctoral teaching candidates who are minorities. Candidates will be nearing completion of their doctoral programs and on the verge of entering the higher education workforce. The majority of these candidates will have completed their studies, with the exception of their dissertations.
“We are pleased to afford our doctoral candidates an opportunity to develop their teaching skills at another high-quality institution,” said WVU Vice Provost Paul Kreider. “It is essential that we support an effort to encourage mentored teaching and to help increase diversity at institutions across the state.”
As part of the partnership review and evaluation process, each WVU doctoral candidate will be paired with a teaching mentor who is a member of the Wesleyan faculty. To help ensure a high-quality program and experience, Wesleyan will conduct a review of each participating adjunct instructor at the end of each semester. In addition, Wesleyan has the option to consider and hire any of the participating adjunct instructors for full-time positions once they have completed their doctoral programs at WVU.
“Diversity is a core value at West Virginia Wesleyan; now, this partnership with West Virginia University strengthens our ability to model these values in the classroom and within our campus community,” said James Moore, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at West Virginia Wesleyan. “It’s also a great opportunity to leverage our outstanding faculty as mentors for these top-notch doctoral candidates and provide them with a new opportunity to teach at a private, liberal arts college.”
Doctoral candidates will be permitted to teach up to eight credit hours per semester. In addition to adjunct instruction, the WVU doctoral candidates will have the opportunity to integrate into Wesleyan’s campus life through cultural events, guest lectures and special programming.
Primary points of contact for this program include Kreider and Moore. Interested participants should reach out to these individuals to indicate their interest in the program.
