College of Education
Leadership Council
April 2, 2020
9:00 – 10:30 am
Agenda
Zoom
In attendance: David Hough, Russ Brock, Jef Cornelius-White, Denise Cunningham, Kim Dubree, Janice Duncan, Karen Engler, Deanna Hallgren, Stephanie Huffman, Travis Marler, Juli Panza, James Satterfield, Barri Tinkler, Ximena Uribe-Zarain, Rose Lee, Sharon Lopinot
Dean Hough asked all department heads, Janice and Deanna, to send him “good feeling” articles today for The Hough Post going out next week. Everyone discussed what they thought they would send.
The President, Provost, and deans have been discussing ideas for commencement. Students were also asked for their input. The Dean asked everyone what they thought about our college having its own virtual commencement. There are approximately 250-270 students. Janice said Greenwood will have a virtual commencement for their seniors. They will play “Pomp and Circumstance”. They have photos of each student in their cap and down. Valedictorians will be taped. Information on each student will be displayed. There will also be a photo of Janice handing them their diplomas. She and Ron are still working on it. The event would be videotaped. Everyone thought the virtual college graduation was a good idea but not sure how to proceed.
Juli reported that some students were nervous about online advising at first, but it seems to be getting better this week.
DESE had a webinar for around 1,000 people to discuss how to close out the school year. The ACT minimum has been waived for fall semester. Russ was part of the meeting. He said DESE is lightening up a little, but leaving most things up to the school districts to decide. Districts were asked to submit questions in advance. High School students still need 24 credits to graduate. Dean Hough would like to see the minimum GPA for education classes be discussed. This could be discussed at the EPP level. They do have some flexibility. Dean Hough asked what LC members thought about possibly giving a recommendation on what we would like to do as far as admitting students. What if the education departments allowed any student that meets general MSU requirements? He noted there would be some things that would be required. LC members agreed this was a good idea. Julie and Kim brought up how students for this semester can now take a “pass.” The class would count toward certification, but not toward their GPA. They are making sure students understand this. The Dean asked Barri and Karen to talk to Chris and Andrew and discuss presenting to the EPPC on exceptions for admitting students to education classes. It was also noted that students can still use their financial aid to purchase Taskstream at the bookstore.
The university will be making an announcement soon regarding the FY21 budget. More cuts will be coming. Our college cut $195,000.00 so far. Discussions will be coming up if we are asked to come up with more.
Our college needs to start planning for three different scenarios for fall semester:
- Things will be the same as they were
- Our fall classes will be all online like summer
- Things will be the same as they were but the virus could come back and we would need to transition to all be online again
Department Heads need to have conversations now with their faculty regarding how they would handle this as far as their classes go. All faculty should be able to deliver classes in person or online. Some faculty may need to look at different ways of doing things as far as practicums and student teaching. The department heads, Janice, Deanna and Russ were asked to email the Dean know their plans.
Denise said that those students who haven’t taught online have made the move to it. She would like to be part of the class to see how things are going. A vast majority of her faculty can do it, although may not prefer it. Labs and practicums will be difficult but be handled.
James and Jef have begun the process of alerting some faculty that are not teaching their classes this summer due to not being ready enough for online teaching. A majority can make the shift. There are some that can’t. James and Jef would both like to observe some of the current online spring classes being taught.
Possible problems discussed were that all students need to be able to stream audio and video, some students may run up against data caps, and many students are non-traditional.
James suggested possibly pairing faculty who are learning the online system to teach online with another faculty member who is stronger. Stephanie has some of her faculty teaching an online blended course. Basically co-teaching with another faculty member. This would combine the knowledge of the course with delivering it online. Denise is also doing this. An example is two faculty members who have agreed to split the nine class hours; six hours for one and 3 hours for the other.
For the remainder of this year, Janice or Ron are listed as instructors on all classes so they can drop in on the online classes and see how they are going. They have a set schedule for classes. Kindergarten through fourth grade are mainly meeting online with students one to two times per week. They will post assignments for the students and use various websites. Her faculty all attended a Zoom training which went well, but they would like more this summer. Janice has a plan if there is not enough money in the budget to cover faculty and staff even though they still have most of their tuition collected for next year. They are looking at different scenarios for a 10%, 20%, or 30% cut.
Deanna is not sure about what would happen to the Child Development Center. They do have state requirements for child/staff ratio. If they aren’t open there will be no work for her teachers. Parents pay weekly. They are not currently paying while they are closed. She is discussing this with Denise.
Russ reported they currently have DESE money appropriated for next year. This could change. They do have a fund balance to work with if they have to transition to closing down. A number of his current staff are retired and receiving pensions. He would work on extending services as long as they could.
The Dean clarified a question regarding 2/3 pay for staff. The 2/3 pay is for those staff who are not given a reassignment and are unable to do their job at home. It is very confusing and tied to federal regulations. The university is still working on it.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 a.m.
Submitted by Sharon Lopinot, Executive Asst. II