The South is rising again, and an international education program housed at West Virginia University has been cited as one of the reasons why.
The West Virginia Consortium for Faculty and Course Development in International Studies, or FACDIS , has claimed a 2004 Regional Innovator Award from the Southern Growth Policies Board.
FACDIS has made it a mission to help educators advance the idea that West Virginia is part of a global community, and this award validates those efforts,said Jack Hammersmith, the consortiums director and a WVU history professor.
The Southern Growth Policies Board is a public policy think tank devoted to improving the economy and quality of life in 13 southern states, including West Virginia. The Regional Innovator Award recognizes inventive programs that help advance this goal. More than 100 programs from across the region were nominated, and a panel of policy experts selected one innovative program from each member state.
The focus of this years awards was on community responses to globalization.
That was a perfect fit for FACDIS , Hammersmith said.
Established in 1980, FACDIS is devoted to improving international education in West Virginia by providing professional development to faculty in public schools and higher education institutions. Toward that end, the consortium assists in course enrichment and revision, helps faculty remain abreast of new developments in their fields and serves as a repository for innovative instructional materials.
Providing international education was one of the criteria for judging this year, so we were in a good position to win,Hammersmith said.We hope this spurs more interest in FACDIS programs.
These programs include a fall workshop at which faculty enhance their understanding of international topics to incorporate into their courses; a spring trip to Washington, D.C., to bring
faculty together with policy-makers and world affairs experts; and summer seminars for public school teachers.
FACDIS also sponsors trips abroad for faculty members when external funding is available. Past trips have included a tour of Mexico to study that countrys culture and a visit to Brazil to study environmental and economic development issues there.
The consortium also has purchased or made available to FACDIS faculty statewide more than 1,000 audio-visual materials. These resources are stored in the WVU Libraries.
To date, 20 West Virginia higher education institutions and 375 faculty from more than 15 different disciplines belong to FACDIS .
The Regional Innovator Award is just the latest accolade bestowed on FACDIS . Other honors include the 2001 Cyrus R. Vance Award for International Education in West Virginia from the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, the 2000 Theodore M. Hesburgh Award Certificate of Excellence from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund and the 1987 G. Theodore Mitau Award for Innovation and Change in Higher Education from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
More about FACDIS on the Net:http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/facdis/
Southern Growth Policies Board Web site:http://www.southern.org/