West Virginia Executive Fall 2019 | Page 47

WVE: Tell us about the Underwood-Smith Teacher Scholarship Program that was revised this year to help recruit students into teaching programs. SAT: That is a scholarship and loan forgiveness program for teachers. We kept the loan forgiveness part of it as it has always existed, and for the scholarship portion, this fall we provided a cohort of 25 college freshmen with scholarships to go to college if they go into high-need teacher education fields. Specifically, we are probably looking at math and science right now, but that could be opened up to include other fields. We are going to take that cohort and give them $10,000 scholarships every year they are in college for a total of $40,000. That is in addition to any other money they may receive. We are going to mentor them throughout their four years. They have to work in the field and become a teacher in their subject content area in West Virginia for five years after they graduate. We want to heighten the profession of teaching. We want our teachers to know how important we think they are and how important we think the work they are doing is. This is the beginning of making that happen. WVE: In terms of the social, economic and emotional impacts, are your college professors experiencing the same challenges as K-12 teachers? SAT: Yes, it is exactly the same. They are having to do a lot more things than they use to have to do—things they are not trained to do. Part of us hiring a new behavioral health director is trying to help the institutions wrap their heads around these new students and how to handle them and make sure we are meeting them where they are. It is a significant challenge on our campuses, and we are trying to acknowledge that and help them figure out how best to work with the population they have. WVE: How did we get to where we are with the problem of high school graduates not going on to postsecondary education? SAT: Historically, our state has had a lot of opportunities for families to be very successful working in jobs that didn’t require higher education. That has changed, and we haven’t kept up with that change. It is going to continue to change, and that means people are going to need additional certifica- tions and trainings. It’s a real challenge, but it is one we can overcome. We are going to have to have a cultural shift in our in state with our people about the type of education and training they need. WVE: How do you ensure you are up to date on the needs of the business community so you know you are offering the right programs? SAT: We get the information from a lot of different places. The four-year institutions have a myriad of ways they reach out to business and industry and try to make sure they are offering the programs that are needed. I also work very closely with the West Virginia Department of Commerce. I am frequently in meetings when companies are considering coming to West Virginia. I am in this sort of constant feedback loop. It is a line of communication that I work very hard at keeping open. WWW.WVEXECUTIVE.COM FALL 2019 45