By Dustin Crutchfield
Glenville State College (GSC) is the only centrally located college in West Virginia. The school, located in Gilmer County, has a history dating back almost 150 years. Faculty and staff at GSC are now planning two new initiatives to assist those seeking a teaching license and for persons interested in pursuing a right-of-way certificate.
Accelerating Degree Progression for Future Educators
GSC’s Department of Education and Office of Workforce and Community Development have forged partnerships with six West Virginia counties aiming to speed the pace at which a student can graduate from college with a teaching license. The program is called 1-2-3 Teach!.
“The program is designed to have students complete one year of college with an education focus during their last two years of high school, which results in them receiving a teaching license in just three years after graduating from high school, thus 1-2-3 Teach!,” says Tom Ratliff, executive director of workforce and community development at GSC. “The program encourages early educators to begin their journeys toward becoming professional teachers before their high school graduation.”
The program integrates with GSC’s workforce and community development dual credit programs, which are already well established in many county high schools throughout the state. Students in the program would complete part of their prescribed plans of study in high school via dual credit classes and online courses taught by GSC faculty. The students will receive support from GSC teacher education faculty while completing their high school degrees. Early, strong relationship building will help students successfully complete their degrees and gain licensure a full year earlier than a traditional education program.
Partner schools in Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Kanawha and Nicholas counties have agreed to assist GSC with the pilot project, due largely to existing relationships with dual credit programs. Once the pilot review is complete, additional counties will be considered for entrance into the program.
New Opportunity for Land Management Professionals
Beginning this fall, GSC’s Department of Land Resources will begin offering a new certificate in right-of-way. The program was developed in partnership with the Right-of-Way Division of West Virginia’s Division of Highways.
“The program consists of 26 credits with 20 credits that are completely online courses,” says Rico Gazal, department head of GSC’s Department of Land Resources. “The rest of the six credits are hybrid or blended courses combining traditional face-to-face and online learning. This program is mainly for those in the landman profession, particularly those interested in energy and land use development, management and planning.”
The certificate in right-of-way is designed to prepare students for work in the landman profession with a primary focus on property descriptions and interpretation, title abstracting, boundary surveying methods and laws, energy resource laws, elementary surveying measurements and computations, and business communication and professional development. The students will also be familiar with both computer mapping systems utilizing cartographic and geographic information system software. Those who complete the certificate will be qualified to apply for entry-level positions in the workforce of the land management and right-of-way fields. Skills and knowledge obtained from the coursework at GSC would enable them to advance within the employing company.
“Glenville State College is dedicated to extending educational opportunities that meet the needs of the community, business and industry of West Virginia. I believe that both the 1-2-3 Teach! initiative and the right-of-way certificate—along with many other things we do—provide those opportunities to our students,” says Ratliff.
About the Author
Dustin Crutchfield is the director of marketing and public relations at Glenville State College. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Glenville State College and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication from West Virginia University. He is a native of Burnsville, WV.
All opinions expressed in Executive Exclusives belong to the feature’s author and are not necessarily the opinions of the publishers or Executive Ink, LLC employees. West Virginia Executive and Executive Ink, LLC reserve the right to refuse any idea, material or subject matter.
