304-293-2641 Evan.Widders@mail.wvu.edu 201 Stewart Hall (Morgantown)
As associate provost, Dr. Evan Widders oversees undergraduate education academic strategies, curriculum, and assessment for the Office of the Provost.
Prior to his new appointment, Evan Widders served as the Multi- and Interdisciplinary Studies Coordinator, Director of the Regents Bachelor of Arts program, and the Eberly College Coordinator for Entrepreneurial Innovation. He has been a professor at WVU since 2005.
Widders created the curriculum for the on campus and online Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Studies programs which is now being used in six of the University’s colleges. He continually supported students in the areas of retention and persistence by focusing on enhanced advising and technology. In addition, he worked to ensure access to affordable online degree programs for non-traditional and place-bound students and has played a key role in the creation and revision of a number of online degree programs and certificates.
As a Provost Academic Leadership Fellow for two years, Widders worked to revise the University’s policies on transfer and transient coursework to facilitate student success. Furthermore, he served on the University Academic Policy Committee and participated in the revision and updating of many University undergraduate education policies. He is a board member for the Association of Interdisciplinary Studies and strongly advocated for increased interdisciplinary activity at WVU.
Widders has been honored with the Nick Evans Award for Faculty Advising Excellence, and Excellence in Service Learning Faculty Teaching awards. During his twelve years as Coordinator for the Programs for Multi- and Interdisciplinary Studies he created and taught new courses regularly, adopting new styles of instruction and innovative course content. He has been a consistent advocate for implementing new and improved assessment practices at the University and chaired the Faculty Senate Teaching and Assessment Committee. He also served on the Faculty Senate for three years and led a reform of Student Evaluation of Instruction practice and procedure.
Before coming to WVU, Widders was a professor specializing in Mexican colonial history at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He has a Ph.D. and M.A. in the history of science and medicine from the University of California Santa Barbara and a B.A. in history and English from the University of California Berkeley.