ATHENS, W.Va. (WVVA) -Two projects at Concord University are set to receive federal funding: a physician’s assistant program and a research center for “Rare Earth Elements.” West Virginia’s Junior U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito secured $1,050,000 to establish the Master of Science Program in Physician Assistant Studies.
“...And it’s designed to be focused on rural areas so that we can help people in the areas that surround us, and also, it’s got a focus on preventative health,” says Dr. Kendra Boggess, Concord’s president.
The University plans on utilizing a former dormitory to house the new program. Boggess added that the physician assistant program will be ready for students within two years.
“Well, we knew that the nursing program would be a really good start, and some of those people may end up wanting to go beyond that. We also know that there’s a shortage in the area... Of people who have those qualifications. And that’s not just in this area, it’s around the state and it’s around the county,” says Boggess.
West Virginia’s Senior US Senator Joe Manchin helped Concord secure another $642,000. The money will help create a research center for rare earth elements (REEs) found in coal. The University’s resident expert on REEs and Associate Professor of Geology, Dr. Stephen Kuehn, says these elements have many technological uses such as electronics, batteries, and automobiles.
“Most of the world’s supply comes from one place. Most of that comes from China. They have big deposits. They also have the infrastructure to process it. But having the whole world depending on one supplier makes a lot of people nervous, of course. And in recent years, people realized that there are rare earths in those coal fields,” says Dr. Kuehn.
To find these REEs, the center will take a very close look at the elements using a specialized kind of electron microscope called an Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA), which Concord says is the only one of its kind in West Virginia.