Dr. Kim McCollum-Clark (she/her) is an Associate Professor of ENWL and has taken on a new role as the Faculty Coordinator for Gen Ed and FYEX (First Year Experience). She specializes in English Education (teacher preparation in grades 7-12) with a rich background in many areas of the ENWL discipline. She received her BA in English and French from Guilford College in Greensboro NC and her MA in English (specialty in Rhet/Comp) as well as her PhD. in Language and Literacy Ed from Penn State.

Though it’s always hard to pick a favorite book, Dr. Kim’s favorite author is Ursula K. Le Guin. Le Guin is best known for her works of sci-fi and fantasy though she has developed a great body of works spanning both creative and scholarly exploration.

If you visit the McNairy Library (online or in-person), you can check out Le Guin’s collection of poems So Far So Good (2018), or her Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel The Left Hand of Darkness (first published 1969), and much, much more.

Dr. Kim’s favorite courses to teach at Millersville include ENGL 486: Teaching Reading & Literature to Young Adults, ENGL 110: English Composition, and now FYEX! She is bringing the enthusiasm and passion students have come to expect from her in the classroom to her new endeavor. We asked her about the changes to FYEX and the impacts for undergrad ENWL students:

I started in this role in January and we are in the midst of actualizing a major general education revision that will go into effect for students who come to MU in Fall 2025, so current students are NOT affected by the changes! That’s important! If you are already a student, the “Legacy” gen ed reflected in your MarAUDIT is the older curriculum. I think the most important word in my new title is FACULTY. I am trying to a) strengthen the faculty and student POV in the discussions about how to put the new plan, called GATEWAY, into action; b) help faculty to wrap their minds around the changes and to see them as OPPORTUNITIES to make a new argument for the power and usefulness of the General Education curriculum. For students who come in under GATEWAY, they will have some new and different choices. By the way, if current students LIKE what they see when GATEWAY rolls out, they can “adopt” the new general ed requirements if they want to.

Congratulations on your new role Dr. Kim! We are looking forward to the exciting changes you are initiating to make Millersville even better for our future students.