College of Education
Leadership Council
May 28, 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, Barri Tinkler, Rose Lee, Sharon Lopinot
Guest: Patty Ingle, Director of Development – COE Liaison
Dean Hough welcomed everyone and invited everyone to give an update on how they are doing. Deanna reported that the Child Development Center will be opening on Monday. They are operating at approximately 50% and will have 43 children to start with. They are following guidelines from the CDC and Dept. of Health and Human Service. Assistant teachers not yet called back to work are on 2/3 pay until July 1.
No travel expenses will be approved through the end of June. Dean Hough reminded the group that all cost centers had 50% of their travel budget swept by the university through FY21. He asked department heads and others who provide travel reimbursements to consider how they would like to proceed in terms of dispersing the remaining, limited travel funds. For example, do they want to receive up to $250 per faculty member and then manage those funds according to their travel reimbursement policies, or would they prefer we manage travel funds centrally? The Dean also noted that the extra COE travel support (up to $400 per person) that his office has provided in years past would have to be cut to $200 or eliminated altogether. The Provost’s Office has appointed a task force to draft a COVID-19 travel policy for the University that should be ready for review next week. Dean Hough encouraged each COE academic department to review the MSU COVID-19 Travel Policy when it is released and then revise their travel policies to comply. This will be discussed at the next department head meeting on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Stephanie asked if the budget cuts will affect the Start-Up Policy for New Faculty. Dean Hough explained that another Town Hall meeting will be scheduled in July after the University knows what the budget withholding by the Governor will be; therefore, it would be prudent to wait until we hear at that time whether we will have funds to provide this, and other, support(s).
Barri, Chris Craig, Provost Einhellig, Dean Hough, and President Smart will meet on Wednesday of next week, June 3rd to discuss the future of CAEP.
Dean Hough asked the group to begin thinking of ways to support our students and faculty this fall should we have to trim personnel costs. He explained that the University is not going to address the workload policy between now and fall, but COE still needs to consider options. The Dean noted that overall COE enrollments in graduate courses is on par with last summer and fall, so if we have to trim personnel, who will teach our students? Department heads noted that some faculty are not “research active” yet still have light teaching assignments for a variety of reasons.
Dean Hough explained that he is teaching a class this fall that will have between 20 and 30 students. He will travel to Waynesville one night each week to teach the class in a traditional, seated format and also Zoom it to any students who prefer that modality. In addition, because the Dean “flips” classes by requiring all students to complete certain assignments and work prior to coming to class, he will utilize Blackboard extensively from day one. If this class has 20 students, the Dean will produce more student credit hours than some faculty as currently scheduled for fall 2020. He offered this scenario merely as an example of what could be achieved if other qualified individuals chose to teach a class this fall. Stephanie said she was teaching a class this fall.
The Dean shared the COE Policy Library and reminded LC to know and follow the policies. Moreover, if a policy needs to be edited, deleted, revised, or whatever due to COVID-19, LC needs to do so this summer.
– First, most agreed the policies need to be easier to find on the website.
– Changes need to be made to the Adjunct (Per Course) Faculty Policy regarding salary ranges.
– The Travel Policy and Professional Travel Policy need to be combined.
– The Student Travel Policy needs to be amended. There probably will be no money available for the semester or possibly, year.
– The Extra Compensation Policy needs to include our list of activities program coordinators and department heads negotiate each semester. Department heads need to be diligent in assigning different levels of compensation or release time commensurate with duties and responsibilities.
– Other policies LC may need to review include but are not limited to: The Reimbursement for Mileage for Practicum Oversight Policy, Faculty Workload Policy, Summer Teaching Policy, Start-Up Policy for New Faculty.
– Kim will look at the Teacher Supervision Policy and get back to the Dean.
– The Research Active Policy is a bit lenient and should be reviewed. Each department head noted that not all faculty are research active but still receive a reduced teaching assignment. Some are classified as that but are not following the procedures. Some tenured faculty choose not to do research and teach 12 hours while others demand lesser teaching assignments, putting undue burden on others.
Dean Hough said we use to have a Workload Policy and Summer Teaching Policy posted on the web, but during the University’s initiative to update web sites, these somehow got removed. He and Sharon will see that they are placed back on the web.
In the past some of the professional staff have taught some sections, classes, and supervised one or more student teachers. They did not receive extra pay, but work hours, duties, and responsibilities reflected same. .
Around the Zoom Table
Rose Lee
Patty Ingle is going to send her the past gifting reports.
Patty Ingle
She and some others are in their building on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Others are working Monday and Tuesdays. Everyone works from home on Fridays. They will be fully back on July 1.
Barri Tinkler
She and Barri are working with their faculty to make sure they understand COE policies.
Kim Dubree
All students have been recommended for certification.
Karen Engler
The Field Placement Task Force has recommended frontloading practicums and embedding online resources. Their challenge is students who need something different. Students can graduate with a BSED and get certified later.
Denise Cunningham
Diana Piccolo, Sara Tipton and Stephanie Livers submitted a book chapter to the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. The book has to do with changing ways of teaching during COVID-19.
Janice Duncan
Ed Pinegar has passed away. One of the scholarships people can donate to is for Greenwood. She is in the office on Wednesdays and will increase days after June 8.
Jef Cornelius-White
He thanked Kim for getting the DESE matrix through.
Juli Panza
She is working on updates for 2+2 and program worksheets for the Provost’s Office. The information will be sent to department heads and program coordinators prior to sending to the Provost. She does not have specific times for Summer Visit Day yet, but will keep everyone updated.
Russ Brock
All is going well. He has a job posting at the executive level and was informed that Greg Rainwater needs to verify that funding is there prior to sending it on. Dean Hough asked if he has heard anything regarding schools opening in the fall. He had not, but has heard how they are handling summer school. It will be a combination of blended, and face to face, but not at the same time.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 a.m.
Submitted by Sharon Lopinot, Executive Asst. II