Leadership Council
November 30, 2017
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. – PSU 309
Notes
In attendance: David Hough, Brown, Gilbert, Cunningham, Denise, Duncan, Janice, Engler, Karen, Satterfield, James, Sawyer, Emmett, Sottile, James, Sharon Lopinot, Tuesda Roberts, Chris Craig
Guest: Dr. Suzanne Hull
Dr. Suzanne Hull, DESE Coordinator, Educator Preparation, attended the meeting. Dean Hough asked everyone around the table to introduce themselves and give her a little background on prior employment. Suzanne said regarding state accreditation, it is important, but it is who we are and how students do in the classroom that is important. She suggested inviting state board members to campus and to tell them our story. The dean said he had met with Julie Masterson and Kayla Lewis prior to this meeting and they are working on an online dyslexia certificate program.
The discussion led to how a number of private and smaller colleges are offering “basement” graduate-level programs. Dr. Hull noted that the State School Boards association and other groups in Jefferson City have received a number of complaints from teachers who feel coerced by their supervisors, i.e., principals and/or superintendent, into earning a graduate degree in administration from an out-of-area, private IHE who is being paid by the school district’s board of education to hire the principal or superintendent or some other school district employee to teach the courses at the school at the end of the day. Dr. Hull noted that the MSBA, DHE, DESE, and Dean Hough are addressing this situation as a sub-committee of the Missouri Advisory Board for Educator Preparation (MABEP). Dr. Hull noted that at the November meeting of MABEP received a briefing from Stacey Priese, DESE assistant commissioner. The group believes having supervisors teaching courses to their teachers and receiving pay from an IHE is unethical. She said a representative from one of the IHEs in question did not believe this to be unethical or a conflict of interest. DESE data demonstrate that in one instance over 200 teachers were enrolled in a graduate administration degree that is supposed to lead to a superintendent’s certificate. However, only about 20 of the 200 teachers attempted to complete the certification exam and only a handful passed. The LC discussed a number of issues that are cause for concern with this type of situation. All agreed it was, at a minimum, a conflict of interest, unethical, and a detriment to the education profession.
One of the university’s goals is student retention. The dean has had numerous discussions with LC members about this topic. Department Heads were asked at the last meeting to bring information on how they are working on this.
- Denise Cunningham, CEFS, talked to her faculty, showed them the data on their programs and asked them to look at where there were issues. Her faculty came up with three ideas to implement:
- Enhance connectivity with student groups they already have, such as the Child Life Student Association.
- Promote their programs and be more involved with the COE Living/Learning Community.
- After summer student orientation, obtain a list of incoming freshmen in their programs and divide them up between faculty. They would then work on making connections with them such as a phone call, meeting with them, attending events.
- James Satterfield, CLSE, said this topic was discussed by programs. SPE, especially Blindness/Low Vision, discussed removing the $800 fee students in their programs are charged and work more with Zoom and online. Students have noted the fee can be a hardship. James himself is going to work more on recruiting students, and attend conferences to promote SAHE. Last year they started looking at the overall non-cognitive variables when admitting students.
- Emmett Sawyer, RFT, provided handouts. He looked at the departmental persistence rate in programs and how each was doing. The MAT has been losing a number of students every year. They had numerous students in the program when it started. They called former students that discontinued the program last year but had limited success due to changes in address, emails and phone numbers. Part of the problem with the program is that students have to take up to 20 extra hours of classes to meet DESE requirements along with 40 hours to be certified and a research project. Their lives are busy and a number of them leave the program after being certified and do not continue with the program. Flexibility in content area from DESE would help. They are working with the College of Applied and Natural Sciences on getting students to certify in science. Suzanne commented there should be another route. She mentioned that a number of schools have tuition reimbursement which could help them financially.
James Sottile discussed progress toward CAEP accreditation. They are working with CAEP Standards Work group chairs to ensure Taskstream is engaged. James is looking for a computer programmer (to supplement Taskstream) and may be able to bring a student worker back. One of the CAEP issues they have is regarding diversity and technology. James handed out a document that outlined Technology and Diversity Cross Cutting Themes. One area for review was EDC 345 class rubric. James believes the data from the rubric will aid in the diversity area since this is an area for improvement (AFI). There were 11 areas for improvement that were corrected. Tuesda Roberts revised the rubric. She said part of the problem is that all of the students in the class are not at the same level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) so they do not have the background needed on how to do certain things. Some of the students thought the requirements were cumbersome. Emmett, Tuesda and James Sottile will meet with everyone that teaches the course and discuss issues/ways to move forward.
Denise handed out a list of faculty accomplishments for November. She highlighted that one of their students in FCS is getting her breakout session on safety and sanitation practices in the culinary classroom published on the Breakout EDU website.
James Satterffield said that from October through November of this year thirty-two faculty have made national and international presentations. Of those, some were with students. Four faculty will present at the AERA conference.
Emmett said Dr. Beth Hurst, along with other faculty, had an article published in The Missouri Reader.
Gilbert discussed what was going on with the One Missouri initiative. Our college’s initiative is to foster first generation students especially in rural areas, to teach. He has hired a person at Pattonville High School to be the Bear Partnership Coordinator for Pattonville. She will work with students, parents and faculty. He is working with Lee Summit School District. The Riverview Gardens initiative is on hold for now.
Dr. Stephen Kleinsmith, Nixa Superintendent, will be the guest speaker at the COE Graduation Reception on December 15, 2017. Information will be out in The Hough Post. Please encourage faculty and staff to attend.
Around the Table
Denise Cunningham
The Child Development Center was visited by the accreditation team yesterday. Everything went well. They should know if they passed in two to four weeks. Their Elementary and Early Childhood program faculty voted to have students complete the MOCA assessment prior to starting their student teaching. Sara Tipton, Robin Koerber and Denise are working on expanding the internship program to the St. Louis area.
Russ Brock
On November 7, he met with nine superintendents and assistant superintendents who will be on his advisory committee regarding how to reach out to school districts. There is a southwest curriculum director’s monthly meeting that ATLL will host in February at the Meyer Alumni Center. Gilbert Brown praised Russ for his excellent work with this group.
James Satterfield
They have a couple of searches going on.
Dean Hough
COE will no longer have program support funds after June 30, 2017.
Emmett Sawyer
They currently have a search for an Assistant Professor – Foundations and will soon have a search going for the School and Community Partnerships.
Gilbert Brown
Since Fall 2016, their China Faculty and Student Initiatives Program has made much progress in developing post-graduate Professional development programs for faculty and developing experiential graduate and undergraduate student immersion programs. SAHE’s Certificate program, Perspectives about American Higher Education, will award 24 Hainan University Faculty members their Certificate at the end of the fall semester. Next spring, 25 faculty from Ningxia University will complete the Certificate Program. In January, Tami Arthaud, Special Education Professor will visit Shaanxi University to lay the foundation for taking undergraduate students to China during the next academic year. Cathy Pearman’s (RFT) Ningana University’s experiential program is a hybrid program designed to provide undergraduate and graduate students direct observational experiences in middle/high school in the Springfield area. Finally, Michelle Satterfield (Childhood and Family Studies) will lead and offer an experiential immersion program for undergraduate and graduate students in different majors to gain insights into the middle school and high school classrooms around the Springfield area.
Janice Duncan
Greenwood will have new locker rooms, which has been paid for by donors. They will have a groundbreaking ceremony. They still have students visiting the school and some may start in January.
Tuesda Roberts
She is proud of one of her EDC345 students. Tuesda is helping her with her honors program.
The meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m. Gilbert, James Satterfield, James Sottile and Gilbert were asked to stay for a few minutes.
Notes submitted by Sharon Lopinot, Exec. Asst. II