Opportunities Abound

For nearly 35 years, the West Virginia Governor's Honors Academy has provided rising high school seniors the opportunity to spend three weeks on a college campus where they have the opportunity to meet some of the greatest kids in West Virginia and work with master teachers in their fields of greatest interest.

Mission Statement

Designed to stimulate and support excellence in education through a multi-week summer program, the West Virginia Governor’s Honors Academy was started in 1984 by Governor John D. Rockefeller IV. The mission of the academy is to operate an academically rich environment designed to honor high ability/high achieving students in an institution of higher education, challenging them to grow intellectually, creatively, and socially in a culturally diverse atmosphere.

GHA 2018 at Marshall

During their stay, GHA students are privy to all services and amenities offered to students at Marshall University. They will live i North and South Halls, which are four story residence halls. The house a total of 782 students in double occupancy rooms. Each building is equipped with a theater room, smart classroom, and apartments for faculty-in-residence and full time professional staff that live in the FY halls. Each building also has a kitchenette, recreation lounges, study lounges, and a pool table or ping-pong table. Each room is equipped with heating/air conditioning, cable amenities, high speed internet, and a private bathroom.

Each county selects one male and one female student to attend, and approximately 60 more students are selected from a statewide pool of applicants. Through a financial agreement with the West Virginia Department of Education, 15 of these spots are reserved for career/technology secondary students.

Students at GHA select one intensive course in their academic field of interest and two broad-based courses outside their experience area. Cultural, educational, and recreational activities fill the students’ evenings on and off campus. Students may also attend a college fair and take part in community service efforts and club-like groups based on recreational interests, such as frisbee, dancing, horseback riding, etc.

Courses offered in arts and humanities, social sciences, and STEM are taught by high-school and college faculty. Faculty not residing near the host location are provided room and board at the Academy site. Each of the 15 faculty members is responsible for one intensive course and one broad-based course. Faculty members are chosen based on their creativity, expertise, rapport with students, the quality of their course proposals, and their ability to relate course materials to other fields. Faculty members are also expected to provide leadership outside the classroom at other GHA events, trips, and functions.

Oversight of GHA comes from Mrs. Sherry Keffer, Director of Governor’s Schools, who is responsible to the Secretary of Education and the Arts. The on-site supervisor is the deans of the academy are Cara Bailey and Mallory Carpenter. . Interns provide office support, and the residential director is responsible for the coordination and training of 15 undergraduate resident assistants who also assist with supervision and discipline.

GHA is provided at no cost to students and their parents with the exception of providing health and accident insurance and transportation to and from the academy.

Example of the kinds of classes taught at GHA The classes in the link to the left were taught at GHA in 2017.