Faculty Advisory Council
September 13, 2017
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
PCOB 16
Minutes
In attendance: David Hough, Cathy Pearman, Becky Swearingen, Melissa Schotthofer, Debra Price, Kim Finch, Joe Hulgus, Paul Ajuwon, Jeni Hopkins
- “Charge” – Days/Times for 2017-2018 Meetings
Meetings will be held on a Wednesday each month from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Meeting invites will be sent out. The group’s charge is to give the dean advice. There was a discussion on using the Outlook Calendar to see when everyone is available and email protocol. People should respond to the sender only unless asked to let everyone included in the email your opinion.
- Research Active Document Revisions March 8, 2017
This document and the following two will be discussed at the next Mentor Leadership Seminar on September 22. It was discussed that there is no University policy on this to go from. Cathy was at a meeting and informed by Chris Craig that there is a University document regarding this. The dean asked her to send him a copy. There were no further discussions on the Draft Code of Ethics or COE Mentoring Plan.
- 120 Minimum Credits for Degree Completion
President Smart and Provost Einhellig attended a Leadership Council meeting and one of their main topics was pursuing all programs being at 120 credit hours for the University. Both said that DESE does not require courses, but competencies. Doing this would save students time and money. Jef Cornelius-White is on the Faculty Senate committee regarding this. He will attend Leadership Council tomorrow.
Discussion:
- Will this negatively affect education degrees?
- Is the quality of the program more important than the amount of hours?
- Have there been any studies on this?
No one knew of any studies. A large number of education programs in Missouri have already changed over to this. We could possibly look at it, but it would take a good amount of time.
- The purpose of an education is to train people and produce educated lifelong learners.
Dean Hough recommended departments and program is looking at ways certification requirements/competencies can be met in route to addressing the new University policy should it become a reality, which appears most likely to happen very soon. Cathy suggested having people present on this topic at the next MACTE meeting. She is a representative on the MACTE committee and will look into it.
- Rural Education Center
The dean asked what everyone thought if we were to submit a proposal to establish a Rural Education Center in West Plains. The purpose would be to recruit and assist students in education programs. The person hired would also visit rural schools and meet with various audiences on this. If approved and money would be provided, money would be used to pay the salary of the person hired, travel and expenses for meetings. The dean has been asked to draft a proposal. He will share same with the Leadership Council and West Plains folk to see if they are in favor or not. The dean asked for ideas on where it could be housed, noting he would ask this question of the WP folk if they were in agreement to pursue the idea. More to follow whenever more groups have had an opportunity to weigh in.
Meeting adjourned at 9:49 a.m.
Submitted by Sharon Lopinot