The Appalachian studies program at Shepherd is preparing to take the next step in its evolution. A graduate certificate in Appalachian studies may soon be available to interested graduate students and community members.
The certificate is in the process of going through Curriculum Instruction (CNI) and is expected to be approved by the end of February 2014. According to the certificate proposal, the Appalachian studies program is “committed to an understanding of the region and its historical, environmental, social, and literary richness.”
While not a degree, the fifteen credit hour certificate will allow students at the graduate level to take Appalachian studies courses and receive acknowledgement for their efforts through a certification of their knowledge in a prescribed set of courses. According to Scott Beard, dean of graduate studies and associate vice president of academic affairs, and Sylvia Shurbutt, professor of English and coordinator of the Appalachian studies program, this certificate will be the first of its kind offered at Shepherd University.
“Shepherd is allowed currently to offer up to four certificate programs without having to go through what is known as a substantive change process with its regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission,” Beard explained.
When asked what other certificate programs the university may choose to pursue in the future, Beard felt “the next logical area to pursue a certificate would be in the business field in an area such as project management or financial planning.”
Shurbutt contends that “students will be lucky for this course of study to be available because it encourages students to stay in Appalachia and gives them insight into their heritage, helping them to develop pride in their native region.” Students pursuing the degree have a set of electives that may allow them to pursue personal career and educational goals.
Required courses for the fifteen-hour certificate are a three-credit foundational course, APST 501, Appalachia in Time, Place, and People, and RESR 601, a three-credit independent research seminar that acts as a graduate capstone research experience. Students may then fill the other nine credit hours with a combination of the 13 elective choices for the certificate.
The major difference between the classes for the graduate certificate and the current undergraduate minor will be the independent research seminar, which students may tailor to their individual interests. With the exception of the APST 558 Appalachian Literature course and the MBA 505 Business in West Virginia course, all of the courses for the certificate program will be either entirely new or newly split-level. The split-level courses include mostly music, culture and history classes.
Students wishing to earn the certificate if it is approved should note that they must still meet all the normal requirements of the graduate program admission. Since the certificate is not a degree program, enrollment only toward the certificate will not receive financial aid. However, the courses will also help to fulfill content area course requirements in other graduate programs such as the graduate teaching degrees (MAT and MACI).
Doug Frick, a senior communications major, says he is “for the extension of Appalachian studies because I feel it is an important for transplants to have resources available to them so they can adequately represent the region.” When asked if he would be interested in the graduate certificate if returning to Shepherd, Frick commented, “I don’t need to take courses in my own culture. I already live it.
Shurbutt says that she has received interest in the program from several students in the NEH Summer Seminar, community members and one or two MAT graduate students who felt their teaching will be enhanced by the certificate.
Amy-Marie Free, a sophomore secondary education major, says that while she would be very interested in completing the Appalachian Literature course, she is not currently interested in the graduate certificate. “I have specific career goals I wish to achieve… and since I’m from Pennsylvania, I’m not sure where I would end up teaching after I graduate.” Free commented that she did hope to be more involved with the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence events hosted by the Appalachian studies program in the coming academic school year.
“Shepherd has a strong Appalachian studies minor, and coupled with other events such as the Appalachian Heritage Festival and the Appalachian Writer-in-Residence program, there has been a sustained level of interest in courses and cultural events dealing with Appalachian culture and the surrounding region,” Beard added when asked if there is a need for the certificate. He also mentioned that graduate enrollments have increased, as have requests for the Appalachian studies certificate from teachers, community members and other professionals in the area to explain why an interest in this certificate prompts consideration from the university.