Shepherd University will partner with Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Moorefield to provide the bachelor of arts in elementary education.

The joint program, which will begin in 2014, will serve an initial group of 20 students. The program will deliver the first four semesters of the elementary education degree, which consist of 100- and 200-level core courses, introductory professional education classes, and specialty studies, at Eastern’s Moorefield campus. Students would then take the fifth, sixth, and seventh semesters at Shepherd’s campus in Shepherdstown, returning to the Moorefield area for the final semester of student teaching and an education seminar.

“This collaboration will help provide teachers for the Moorefield region, which is forecast to have a shortage of certified teachers through 2020,” said Shepherd President Suzanne Shipley. “Students will have convenient access to the first half of the bachelor of arts in elementary education with the course work offered near their homes.”

President Shipley and Eastern’s President Charles D. Terrell signed the agreement on March 21 in Charleston.