The newly established Women’s College at Mississippi University for Women has its founding director as it prepares for its first academic year.
Kim Whitehead, who previously headed the Ina E. Gordy Honors College, said she is eager to welcome the first cohort of students to the Women’s College this fall, which was approved by the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning in April.
Throughout her time at The W, she said, she has taught women’s studies courses.
“As The W celebrates its 140th anniversary, it is very fitting that we underscore our commitment to academic and leadership development for women through this new initiative,” Whitehead wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “The Women’s College invites students to explore women’s excellence and leadership in the past and present and develop their own knowledge and skills to become transformational leaders in their professions and communities.”
The new college will function similarly to the university’s honors college. Students who take a certain number of hours within the Women’s College curriculum will be recognized as graduates of the college and honored at commencement.
The similarities between the two schools will make for an easy transition for Whitehead, MUW President Nora Miller said.
“She has just done wonderful things with the honors college,” Miller told The Dispatch Wednesday. “Under her, that has been very well run and has been a great tool for retention of students. I’m sure that her leadership of the Women’s College will be just as exemplary.”
Whitehead said students will have multiple avenues for exploration and growth through the Women’s College curriculum. Coursework will help students develop “gender awareness” while research and internship opportunities will apply that knowledge to the students’ specific field or discipline.
Providing students with a community of similarly-minded students and a mentorship network of faculty and alumni are two aspects of the school Whitehead said she is particularly excited about.
“This is yet another way The W can provide a personalized, empowering experience for our students that is grounded in our rich history,” she said. “It also matches the expertise of our faculty and alums with our students’ curiosity, leadership potential and desire to make a positive change.”
Whitehead will be acting in an interim capacity for the coming academic year. She said the college is an extension of the university’s founding purpose of providing high quality education for women.
Founded in 1884 as the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls, the university was later named Industrial Institute and College and Mississippi State College for Women before becoming MUW.
With Whitehead leaving the honors college, Josh Dohmen will be taking her place as director there. Dohmen is an associate professor of philosophy and has served as the program director for the Nancy Yates Community Engagement Program.
In the new role, Dohmen will advise honor students and work to enhance recruitment, retention and student engagement.
The W also announced Marty Brock, who served as The W’s first coordinator of teaching excellence, will be the new vice president for academic affairs. In the new position, Brock will be responsible for the Kosen Center for Teaching and Learning and the direction of the Office of Graduate Studies.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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