Following World War II, Kenneth B. McMillen was an Associate Professor of Political Sciences at West Liberty for many years (1946-1980). Ken had interesting experiences during the War, which he sometimes shared to make the classes more interesting. His casual, informal manner of conducting class was conducive to maintaining student interest and enhancing the learning experience. Instead of one way lectures, the hour was often made up of discussion with questions from students. Current events in history often led to discussion about how the event was likely to affect world politics. An initial gift was given in 1986 by Mrs. McMillen to start a fund in her husband’s memory. It was very important to her to honor his legacy to West Liberty. The fund originally awarded scholarships to West Liberty students. Given the diminishing support of higher education by the State government of West Virginia, the contributors to the scholarship fund now believe that the fund can better be used for the purpose of creating a stipend for faculty in honor of Mr. McMillen.
The funds shall be awarded to a faculty member deemed by a committee of three persons selected by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The committee should award the stipend to the faculty member who contribute the most to the advancement of the College during the preceding academic year, provided the faculty member remains at the University during the year in which the award is made.
Requirements: Eligible applicants must have completed three semesters of full-time academic work and have a major in Social Science. Applicants should have an overall and Social Science GPA of 3.25 or higher. Applicants must be involved in college and community activities as well as financial need.