West Virginia University’s College of Human Resources has changed its name to better reflect the educational work and focus of the faculty, staff and students there, dean Lynne Schrum said. Its new name is the College of Education and Human Services.
Schrum surveyed faculty, staff, alumni and the College’s visiting committee to initiate the name change in 2012. It was approved by WVU’s Board of Governors in December 2012 and became effective Jan. 1.
“This college represents a broad spectrum of academic endeavors,” Schrum said. “Taken together, faculty and staff determined that we share a commitment to and belief that ‘Education First,’ represents all aspects of the work we do. Our new name, College of Education and Human Services, will represent our scholarship, teaching and service for the future. I am proud that we have taken this step to represent the college.”
Marybeth Sickles, special events and alumni coordinator at CEHS said, “the Alumni from the College of Education and Human Services support the name change. They feel as we move forward it is more reflective of the curriculum and services we provide, but the former name, the College of Human Resources and Education, will remain a special memory in their hearts forever.”
Along with a better interpretation of its academic strategies, the name change will also end confusion between the College and WVU’s Division of Human Resources.
“We often get calls from people seeking employment,” said Rosemary Hriblan, assistant to the interim associate dean and 25-year staff member of the College. “Under the former name, I’m sure it was very confusing for anyone outside of our College to understand exactly who we are. This name change makes things clear.”
In 2012, the College received full, continuing accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education through the organization’s next visit in 2019.
The accreditation covers the College’s initial teacher preparation programs (agriculture education, art education, child development and family studies, elementary and secondary education, music education, physical/health education, and special education) and advanced preparation levels (advanced elementary and secondary education, educational leadership, reading, school counseling, and speech language pathology).
WVU has held continuous NCATE accreditation since 1957.
Earlier this week, CEHS’ online education program was ranked 26th in a U.S. News & World Report survey of top online graduate programs.
For more information about the College: http://cehs.wvu.edu/.
