Academics

Partnering community engagement with academics at West Virginia Wesleyan allows faculty and students to collaborate with community partners in a deeper understanding of local, regional, national and global issues. From service-learning to community-based research, WVWC students engage in reciprocal relationships with our community while cultivating a rigorous, liberal arts education.

Wesleyan faculty are supported by the CCE with assistance in:

  • Course/syllabus design
  • Community partner matching
  • Professional development training
  • and a library of print and web-based resources.

 

Resources for Faculty

For Wesleyan faculty members that are interested in community engagement and service-learning, the CCE has created a growing list of resources that illustrate best practices of course/syllabus design, community partner relations, and student reflection. Please visit us on the second floor of the Benedum Campus Center (located behind the bookstore) to learn more.

 

WV Campus Compact-Campus Community LINK Project

  • West Virginia Campus Compact has offered four $5,000 grants from the Benedum Foundation to Wesleyan faculty whose classes are willing to work with communities throughout the state.  Wesleyan is one of a number of West Virginia schools who are recipients of the grant. 
  • The $5,000 can be used by faculty members to purchase any supplies or materials needed to complete their projects with the exception that no grant monies can be a stipend to the faculty member.
  • The following faculty members received grant monies and are working with the partner communities to implement their projects during the Spring 2011 semester:
    • Dr. John Lipinski’s Principles of Marketing Class will work with the local Chamber of Commerce, farmers, entrepreneurs, and community groups of Ritchie County to establish a Farmer’s Market for the community.  This project will serve as a vehicle to educate the community about the economic, social, and environmental benefits of buying locally-produced food. 
    • Prof. Nick Conger’s MBA class will be surveying residents of Ritchie County via phone interviews about access to affordable housing as the issue relates specifically to the elderly population. Students will then write a report and present their findings to the partners in Ritchie County.
    • Dr. Karen Petitto’s Technology Integration class will verify an available and trainable workforce to staff a proposed Internet business utilizing homebound and single parents who are limited to home-based work opportunities.  In the field, students will meet with the community partner to identify the skills necessary to complete the proposed home based work. The course outcomes expect students to be exposed not only in the technology, but to research best practices in education - both face-to-face and at a distance.
    • Prof. Peter Galarneau’s Basic Video Field Production class will make a video highlighting tourist attractions in Ritchie County.  The grant will enable the Wesleyan class to update their equipment, meet the needs of the partnering community, and allow the students to have hands-on, ‘real world’ video field production experience.
     
  • For more information on Campus Compact, visit their website here: http://www.compact.org/  For more information on the service learning courses above, contact LeeAnn Brown in the Center for Community Engagement at (304) 473-8161.