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WCU Stories

fac staff awards '24

University faculty, staff awards announced for ’24

On Tuesday, April 24, the university’s faculty and staff were celebrated during the annual Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards ceremony.  

Aimee Kling

Grad student aims to improve community literacy

Ten years after she finished her undergraduate degree, Aimee Kling decided to go back to school, entering WCU's graduate program in English Studies and focusing her research on improving community literacy.   

abby Bentley 2

Alumna is North Carolina’s Beginning Teacher of the Year

Abby Bentley worked as a research scientist after her undergraduate studies. In the field, she was concerned with environmental toxicology – she would test water near agriculture sites for certain pollutants.   

CET Clayton Bardall

Engineering and Athletics team up with Penn State on head impact research

Clayton Bardall, a graduate student in WCU’s Engineering Technology program and tight end on the football team, recently combined his both passions on a project that will have a major impact on athletes for generations to come.   

krafthouse 3

MFA student named creative director for Center for Craft art installation

For second-year Master of Fine Art student Jeannie Regan, being chosen as the creative director for the Center for Craft’s newest art installation is an opportunity made possible by faculty and peer support from the MFA program.   

stylized image of Jessica Gasperson-Shuford

Explore Further. Achieve Goals.

Born and raised in Western North Carolina, Jessica Gasperson-Shuford, a summer 2023 graduate of Western Carolina University’s Master of Science in Nursing-Family Nurse Practitioner program, knew she wanted to go into the health care field since she was in her teens.  

Kayla Patterson

MFA program checked all the boxes for WCU alum: culture, mountains and academic rigor

After earning a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a decade of work and life experience, Kentucky native Mo Kessler wanted to find a master’s program that checked all the boxes when it came to culture, experiencing the mountains of Western North Carolina and of course the master’s program itself.   

stylized image of Preston Ellington

Discover Your Own Breakthrough

Greensboro native Preston Ellington’s journey to being a physical therapist started back in high school in a health and human sciences class.  

Kayla Patterson

Kayla Patterson blazes a new trail in the Higher Education Student Affairs program

Kayla Patterson is a recent graduate of the Higher Education Student Affairs master’s program. She began her undergraduate studies in pursuit of a medical degree at Cleveland State University on a basketball scholarship before transferring to New York University.   

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