South African college administrator visits WVU Parkersburg

South African higher education administrator visiting WVU Parkersburg as ACE Fellow.

CONTACT: WVU Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage, 304-424-8200.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A South African college administrator is visiting West Virginia University at Parkersburg this month as an American Council on Education Fellow.

Cora Motale, Dean of Students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, is one of 39 ACE Fellows selected for a year-long fellowship at colleges and universities nationwide.

The ACE Fellows’ program is designed to strengthen higher education institutions and leadership by identifying and preparing promising senior faculty and administrators for eventual advancement into senior leadership positions in higher education.

"Selection as a host institution is a mark of the prestige of the institution," Sharon McDade, director of the ACE Fellows program, noted. "ACE Fellows select institutions for the unique learning opportunities and their quality work of educating students."

Dean Motale is spending the month of September at WVU Parkersburg. She is shadowing WVU Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage as well as members of the college’s executive staff to learn more about higher education in West Virginia.

"We are delighted to have Cora here to learn about the issues and opportunities of the region’s higher education institutions," President Gnage said. "We are also gaining insight into the challenges South African colleges face -- many of which are similar to our own."

WVU Parkersburg has several ACE Fellows' connections. In 2008-2009, Cynthia Kelley, WVU Parkersburg associate dean of academic affairs, became the first from the Parkersburg campus to be selected as an ACE Fellow. President Gnage was an ACE Fellow in 1990-91.

The ACE Fellows program was established in 1965 by the American Council on Education. Fellows are nominated by the presidents of their institutions and then selected in a national competition for a year-long fellowship.

The ACE Fellows program combines seminars, interactive learning opportunities, campus visits and placements at other higher education institutions to condense years of on-the-job experience and skill development into a single semester or year. The Fellows are included in the highest level of decision making while participating in administrative activities and learning about a project issue.

Fellows attend three week-long seminars on higher education issues organized by ACE, read extensively in the field and engage in other activities to enhance their knowledge about the challenges and opportunities confronting higher education today.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research and program initiatives.

cd09/22/09